Fully Masked
by o0Black-Sand0o
Summary: FemRobin. Heroes are used to wearing masks, but that doesn't mean the only ones they wear are on their faces. Wally, unfortunately, has to learn that the hardway, as well as the fact that his best friend's mask is hard to remove. Birdflash.
1. Robin's a Girl?

_**I'm attempting to write a story with a comic book air to it, with action, fighting and things of the sort so I figured I would test the style by writing a fan fic. Hope you like and keep in mind that Robin is just a little kid at the moment so her personality isn't quite like it is in the show, but it will evolve.**_

He grabbed a bag of chips out of the cupboard and went and sat in front of the TV. It was his day off from crime fighting, unless something important came up, and he was planning to take full advantage of it before his mum came home and told him to do his homework. As he flipped through channels, however, there was a gust of wind and his Uncle Barry appeared in front of the television in his hero costume.

"Get dressed, we have a mission," he said, his voice calm as though he hadn't just ran from his place.

Wally ran to his room and was back in less than a second dressed in his costume. "What's the mission?"

"Truthfully, backup." When the Flash only got a confused look from his nephew, he explained. "You know how, on your first mission, we went up against armed robbers?"

"Yeah," Kid Flash replied slowly. "And only really have gone up against robbers."

The older hero sighed. "Well, Batman's sidekick is going up against Mister Freeze for his first mission."

"What? But that's crazy."

The Flash shrugged. "I know, but it's Batman. Anyway, he wants us, as well as Green Arrow, Speedy and Green Lantern to be there _if_ needed. We aren't meant to rush in unless there's a problem. Come on."

They ran to the location, only to find all the other heroes already waiting on the railing at the top of the building. They snuck in through a window in the roof to join them. They landed silently to the left of Speedy, who smiled at their arrival.

"Hey, any sign of the new kid?" Kid Flash asked in a whisper.

Speedy shook his head, looking down at Batman who was fighting off minions. "Nope, maybe Batman changed his mind. The guy's been fighting on his own."

Green Arrow chuckled softly from beside his protégée. "No his not. Robin is up there." He pointed to a room that hung over the large clearing in which Batman was fighting, and was higher up then even the heroes hiding in the shadows. "He's been in there from before Batman showed up. I'm guessing his hacking the computers for information. Green Lantern's keeping an eye on him."

"Robin, is that his name?" The Flash whispered, leaning around his nephew to get closer to his friend.

"Yeah, the only thing I know about the boy."

Batman took a hit and went sliding along the ground. He quickly recovered as Mister Freezer started clapping in a sarcastic way.

"Bravo, as always, those who fight alone, die." Moments after he said this, a laugh came across the speakers. "What was that?"

"My protégée, Robin."

There was a crash from the room in which Robin was in before a small figure came out onto the balcony overlooking the warehouse floor. The figure was quickly followed by a minion. The large build of the minion easily dwarfed the young hero, but the little figure braised itself on the railing and kicked the man hard in the chest, making him stumble back into the room. The hero then turned and climbed onto the railing, jumping from the railing to the metal light that hung from a chain at either end. With the child hanging from the light by their hands, the hero's slightly further down had a clear view of them.

They were skinny, small, clad in a black and red costume with a yellow belt and yellow in the underside of the black cape and if their soft facial features were anything to go off of, a girl. Robin swung enough to do a flip so that she was standing on the light, making it shake a little.

"Robin's a girl?" gasped Kid Flash, the first to recover. "I thought you said Robin was a boy."

"I just assumed Robin was," explained Greed Arrow, gawking at the young girl in surprise.

They watched the young girl do an elegant leap to the next light before calling down to her mentor. "Are you alright down there, Batman?"

"Fine."

"I'll be down in a sec." She pulled something from her yellow belt and threw something at the two pillars helping to keep the computer room standing. After that, she flipped, landing on the railing in front of Kid Flash. She bent forward so that her eyes were level with his, though hers were hidden behind her mask. "You lot may want to move. I'm going to blow up the computer room and you'll get squished."

Kid Flash was speechless, looking at the girl who was so elegantly standing in front of him on a railing. She was so small yet she was facing bigger bad guys then he ever had. He had to be pulled out of the crash zone by Flash for he was not paying attention.

Robin connected a rope to one of the lights so that she could swing down, landing next to her mentor, knocking out two minions before she put her feet on the ground. "I see you brought back up." She smiled cheekily at Mister Freeze. "You're the guy who can't live if his not cold. I hope you didn't want your computers."

"Why do you say that, pipsqueak?" the villain sneered.

"Well," Robin started slowly, "I've already transferred all the information to this tablet," she held it up, "so I don't need the computers anymore, hence I'm going to blow it up." She raised the hand holding the trigger button for the bombs. She pressed the button, not flinching at the noise or the debris. However, she didn't notice a large shard of metal that come flying at her but someone else did.

As Batman shielded himself from the debris with his cape, Kid Flash watched as Robin simply turned her head, letting her hair protect her face. He admired her skill. She was calm, talented, brave and a smartalic. She showed personality, which is something she and Batman differed on. Truthfully, Robin was what Kid Flash always pictured a young hero to be. It was as he studied her like this that he noticed the large metal come hurling towards her. He quickly ran down, jumping over the railing faster than the speed of light and tackled her out of the way. He felt the metal run across his skin, cutting his arm deeply. He bit back a yell of pain as he cradled Robin's head to his chest so as to not hit it against the concrete. His gloved hand disappeared into her thick black hair as they lay there, waiting for the scene to calm.

When it did, he released Robin's head and move back far enough to see her face. It was sculpted in an expression of shock as she gazed at him. He was found speechless again, but this time it was not from her grace but from her youth. It never truly crossed his mind how old Robin was but he was certain she was younger than him and at the moment she looked no older than eight or nine years old.

"You...you're bleeding!" she stammered in a frightened voice.

Wally gave her a reassuring smile. "At least you're okay, that's all that matters." Looking at the young girl, who looked like a little doll, he silently made a promise that he would do everything in his power to make sure she was never hurt. He got up, pulling her to her feet.

They looked over to see that Batman had tied up Mister Freeze who was covered in dust from the explosion and that Green Lantern was dragging minions out of the stairwell that once led to the computer room. The dark knight looked mad that his protégé had almost been killed. Quickly, he swooped down on the two children.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a voice that stunned Wally. He sounded so frightened and worried.

"I'm fine," Robin assured, opening a container on her belt to pull out some bandages.

"Are you certain? You should be more careful, Kid Flash may not be here next time."

"Dad, calm down, I'm fine."

The Flash, Green Arrow and Green Lantern all stopped moving towards them in shock. They had known Batman was training a protégé but they did not realize said protégé was his daughter. The way he was acting, however, showed he was a devoted father to this girl. They recovered when Speedy clamped a hand on her shoulder as she cleaned Wally's injury.

"You did really well," said the young archer before he grinned at the eleven-year-old boy. "Unlike Kid Flash here."

Wally turned red as Robin opened her mouth to reply. "It's not his fault. He shouldn't have had to save me. I should have realized I needed to duck."

Green Arrow frowned, moving closer to Robin's face. "How old are you?"

"Eight," she answered truthfully.

"Eight?" the man yelped, jumping back in surprise before looking at Batman.

"I'll be nine in two months," she added, finishing wrapping up Wally's arm.

"She is so cute," gushed the Flash, hugging her to him. It was clear he was squashing her head by the way she squirmed. "Batman, you have the cutest little protégé. I just want to eat her all up."

Robin finally wiggled out of his hold and ran to hide behind Batman, pulling his cape around her so they could only see the white of her mask. This action just made Flash gush more.

"Flash, she may be a hero but you're still scaring her," remarked Green Lantern, smiling at the girl.

"Robin, what was on the tablet?" Batman asked, looking down at his leg where she was hiding.

She slowly moved out from behind him, though still keeping an eye on the Flash. "He was planning to create a serum that contained the virus his wife is suffering from. He was then going to inject it into some powerful people, including the Major, head of the police force and Bruce Wayne. Since his the leading expert in the illness I think he was betting that mass panic would make everyone give him the funding to create a cure. I can understand him wanting to save his wife but he was also planning to use the money to make some evil machines." She ignored Flash's giggle at her saying evil instead of another word like corrupt, heavy duty or anything less childish. "He has a little bit of my respect though."

"Why's that?" Batman asked in his deep voice.

"He didn't name any of them Death Ray," she laughed, showing the tablet to Batman. She then surveyed the mess she had caused. "Hey, do you think the opposite of destruction is truction? Or is it protruction, because pro is positive?"

"I don't know," admitted Wally, scratching his head. "It's possible, though I think it would be the truction one because des is the negative of it like disbelieve, disable, just with an E."

Robin nodded as though that made perfect sense.

"Does she do that a lot?" Speedy whispered to Batman, getting a short nod off the man. "She and Kid Flash will get along fine then." He turned to the little hero. "I loved the laugh. Is that your trademark thing?"

"No," answered Batman for her before smirking. "But it should be."

Robin laughed before stopping, her tongue prodding at something in her mouth. "Ah hab a wiggly toof," she proclaimed, pushing it with her tongue as she talked. Next minute she gave a screech of surprise as Flash pulled her into a hug.

"She's so cute, Batman! Why'd you hide her from us for so long?"

"I was afraid you would smother her to death," joked the dark night.

The little girl flipped herself over the Flash, successfully getting out of the speedster's grip.

"You're like a circus clown," joked Kid Flash only to find his feet knocked out from under him. He looked up at Robin in shock from his place on the ground.

"You're the clown, I'm an acrobat," teased Robin with a smirk. She turned so she could easily hold her hand out to Wally. "KF, for the fastest kid alive you didn't even see that coming."

Wally accepted the hand, letting the younger girl pull him to his feet. "No, I didn't," he confessed, looking impressed with the new hero.

As the heroes waited for the police to show up and take the villains to prison Speedy offered to teach Robin how to fire his bow, since she seemed interested in it. Unfortunately, Speedy's bow had a lot of tension in it and Robin had trouble pulling the string back. The older hero tried not to laugh at her pouting face as he came up behind her to help her.

"Okay, now just aim," he started, letting her point the arrow, which was at Kid Flash. Thankfully it was just a soft rubber arrow Speedy had accidently left in his quiver from practicing. "And release."

Robin laughed childishly as the arrow flew at Kid Flash, who hadn't been paying attention and hit him in the chest. "I got him, I got him," she sung, jumping up and down.

"Naww," Flash said making Robin turn to face him, loading a net arrow into the bow.

"You stay over there!" She tried to pull the string back but only moved it an inch before her strength gave out. Thankfully, Speedy decided to help her like he did before. She shot it but he stepped out of the way with his high speed, making the net catch one of the police officers that came through the door at that time. She cringed into herself and giggled lightly behind her hand. "Sorry," she yelled out.

As the man was helped out of the net the Chief came forward, crouching down in front of Robin and putting a friendly smile on. "That's a cute little costume. Did that bad man over there capture you?"

Robin frowned and all the heroes in the room had no doubt that if the mask hadn't hid her eyes, they would be glaring daggers at the man. "No," she said, hurt in her voice that the man would think her weak.

"She's a hero," Wally stated, coming to her aid. He was going to keep his promise as best he could, and that meant emotional pain as well. "And a great one too."

"I blew up that room!" she stated proudly, pointing at the reminisce of the computer room. "And I'm his daughter."

The Chief looked surprised when he followed the young girl's finger to where she was pointing at the Dark Knight. "Really?"

Robin nodded her head before opening her mouth. "Batman, the Chief's here."

Batman finished his conversation with Green Arrow and Green Lantern before walking over to the sidekicks, putting his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Mister Freezer and his minions are all tide up and I have already made you a copy of what he had been planning." He gave them said copy before he nodded his head.

"Hey, I need to get a souvenir!" exclaimed Wally, trying to find something suitable.

Robin bit her lip, looking around. A smile spread across her face before she walked off. She came back holding a metal shard around the size of a ruler. Wally recognized it at the large piece of metal that had been flying towards Robin's heart before he knocked her out of the way. "Here you go." She handed it to the redhead, making sure he was careful with the sharp edges.

Batman put his hands on his daughter's shoulders, drawing her to him to stand in front of him. "Robin and I are going to leave now."

Robin smiled widely, handing Speedy back his bow, which she seemed to have forgotten she was holding until then. "Thank you," she said before turning to everyone else and waving, "bye." Next moment her feet were off the ground as the Flash appeared behind her and hugged her, lifting her up. "Put me down!"

At Batman's dark glare, the man clad in red let go of the little girl, letting her be stirred out of the building by her mentor.

She punched the punching bag as hard as she could over and over again. She was covered in a layer of sweat after having worked out for so many hours and didn't seem to be planning to stop any time soon. Robin had nothing to do other then this and she didn't feel like sitting around bored.

As the punching bag swung on its chain from the powerful hit, the door to the gym opened. Walking through the threshold was one of the most powerful men in Gotham, Bruce Wayne, also known as her father. He came up behind the bag and held it still as the little girl roundhouse kicked it, after that, he let go, walking up to the panting girl.

"I just got a call in the Batcave," he said softly, watching his adopted daughter as she tried to catch her breath.

"Mission?" she puffed before taking a deep breath, allowing her heart rate to settle.

"No, Flash is taking Kid Flash and Speedy out for pizza with his wife and wanted to know if you wanted to come." Bruce smiled at Robin's worried look. "He won't attack you, Iris is really good at keeping him in check."

"But you said I can't tell anyone who I really am, they are only allowed to know me as Robin," reminded the young hero.

"You're not going to go as Riley Grayson, you are going to go as Robin, but not in costume. Just wear dark sunglasses and nothing you would wear out with me," instructed the man.

"So no expensive clothing… How about jeans and a t-shirt?" When her father nodded, she smiled and ran to have a shower. "Tell them I'm there."

She quickly got ready and walking into her adopted father's office. Robin, at first, had been highly reluctant at first to consider him as her dad but after some time, she had came to realize that it was not an insult to her father's memory to see Bruce as her dad and even call him it since she would always love her biological father. She felt that Bruce deserved to be called dad after everything he had done for her.

"How do I look?" she asked, showing her father her choice in clothing. She wore tight, skinny legged black jeans with a purple t-shirt.

He took one glance before turning back to his work. "You need a jacket."

"Got one!" from behind her back she produced a green hooded jumper. Green was her all time favourite colour so the jumper was well worn. "How am I getting there?"

"Alfred will drop you one street over," explained Bruce. "Just call when you want to be picked up."

Alfred drove her into Central City, giving her little bits of information about the city as they drove. He informed her that Flash and Kid Flash protected the city which made Robin laugh.

"All the kids in this place will never be safe."

Alfred laughed. "I have been informed by Master Bruce that he can be a little eccentric." Robin snorted as Alfred pulled up. "The pizza place is up the road and around the corner. I will drive by it in five minutes to make sure you are safe but do you have your utility belt?"

"Yes, dad's taught me to keep it on me at all times." Robin unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. Before she stepped out she moved over and leant forward, giving Alfred a hug from the back seat. "Thanks."

"You are most welcome, Miss Robin."

The girl laughed as she hopped out of the car, closing the door and running up the street. With running she was able to get to the pizza place before Alfred drove passed. However, upon entering she realised there was a problem. She had no clue what any of them looked like as civilians. She had only met them once, so all she knew was that Speedy had copper-brown hair and she only came up to his shoulder. Kid Flash was a little easier, since she knew he had red hair and green eyes, but Flash she knew nothing of besides that he was reasonably tall and he thought she was cute.

She looked around at the few people who sat in the shop, but no table held two boys, a man and a woman. As she was wondering what she should do to narrow down who they could be, she felt a small breeze beside her. Robin looked over and raised an eyebrow.

There stood a boy only a few years older than herself with green eyes, red hair and a mischievous smile. "We realised when you arrived that you wouldn't recognise us. I'm Wally." He held out his hand.

Robin shook it, smirking at him. "Robin."

Wally shook his head, snorting with laughter. "That's not your real name."

"How would you know?" Robin looked around, realising he hand ran to her side. "Is it safe for you to... move fast in public?"

"This place is owned by an ex-hero. Heroes and their families can come here and be themselves." Wally led her to the booth in the back where a fourteen year old, a man and two women sat. "Found her!" Wally exclaimed. "But Bats has given her orders not to tell us her real name."

Robin smiled shyly as the man who was clearly the Flash beamed at her.

"I'm Barry," he introduced, "This is my wife, Iris, you might recognise her from the News, this is Roy and this is Dinah, also known as Black Canary. Iris, Dinah, this is Robin, Batman's protégé."

Robin gave a small wave before Wally pushed her into the booth, sitting next to her. The group talked of nothing in particular until the pizzas they ordered appeared on the table. She picked up a slice as the cheerful blonde woman turned to her.

"So, I never even knew Batman had a daughter. Where's your mother?" Dinah smiled at the girl as she pulled a slice of cheese pizza to her.

The black haired girl swallowed the bite she had taken before answering truthfully. "She died."

"I'm so sorry," gasped Iris, looking at the small girl before her. She just shrugged in reply, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "I saw your first mission, the one where Wally pushed you to the ground."

Robin blushed lightly. "Yeah, I didn't expect for the security footage to end up on TV."

"It happens," warned Roy, "Just make sure you don't lose your mask on a mission and you'll be fine."

"Speaking of your mission," Barry started, "how did Batman decide to let you become a superhero?"

A sly smirk appeared on Robin's lips. "Do you want the official story he's going to tell everyone or the truth?"

"The trust please," Wally exclaimed.

"Well, Dad's going to tell everyone it's to make me understand why he's a hero and blah blah blah, but the truth is I hacked into the Batcave and found out he was Batman."

All five jaws dropped before finally Wally found his voice. "You hacked into the _Batcave!_"

"Yeah," Robin laughed. "Dad came back from a mission to find me playing a computer game on his main frame."

Roy and Wally burst out laughing as the three adults sized up the girl.

"How old are you?" blurted Dinah.

"Nine in a month and a half," Robin answered instantly.

"Oh, she still counts down to the month," gushed Iris softly. "How sweet."

Robin rolled her eyes before laughing. "Dad actually asked that when he saw me sitting there. Well, after he got over the shock. He just kept going, ah, ah," she pointed at nothing in particular, her mouth open, "how old are you! He couldn't believe his system got hacked by a seven year old."

"Seven?" asked Wally in confusion.

"Dad's been training me for almost a year," Robin explained calmly, finishing her slice of pizza. She noticed that a whole pizza was already gone. She looked at Wally, who had barbeque sauce around his mouth. "You should be glad you run fast otherwise you would be so fat!" She grabbed a napkin off the table and pushed it into Wally's face, removing her hand to find it stayed there, which made her laugh.

Wally in turn threw a piece of mushroom at her from his plate.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Sleep Over

The news often debating whether Batman was a bad dad or not because of the missions he let her go on, but truthfully, there were still missions he didn't let her go with him to. She hated these times! Even though he was not her blood father she still cared for him and she didn't want to feel the loss of a third parent, especially when the anniversery of her parents death was so near. It had happened only two weeks before her birthday.

On the occations that Batman left her behind, Alfred would attempt to keep her company and distract her from her worry, but they both knew that the night would end the same way it always did. With Robin curled up in a chair in the Batcave, waiting for her father to get home. It was how it always was. Batman would come back and carry her to her room, assuring her he was alright, even if he was bruised at those times.

That was how tonight was. She was sitting in Batman's chair, which was quite large, a green blanket wrapped around her and her stuffed toy gorilla in her arms, his head over the blanket, watching the door protectively. She had fallen asleep long before, her eyes no longer being able to stay open. Robin had stared at the door that would open up and allow the batmobile in when her father returned until her eyes had grown heavy and sleep had taken her.

Batman knew all this, since it had happen so many times. So when he returned home, with Superman in tow, he was not surprised to see the bundle that signified his daughter's presence. He put a finger to his lips, telling the Kryptonian to be quiet before pointing to the green blanket. From their point of view all they could see was a green blanket and a gorilla head the size of a child's head, so the wealthy man could understand why his friend frowned and walked forward to study the odd bundle.

When he was standing in front of the chair he was able to look down and see a small, child's face hidden under the folds of the blanket. Superman seemed more shocked then when he was wondering about the gorilla head. He looked from the girl to Batman, who was walking up with a smile on his face and no mask covering his face.

"She's gorgeous," Superman whispered, having heard so much about the little Grayson from his friend. It didn't take much to see his friend had easily slipped into proud dad mode the moment the invinisable man had spoken.

"I know," he assured, smiling down at his foster daughter. "Do you want to meet her?" At his friends nod, he crouched down, moving the blanket slightly so he could still see her face. "Riley, sweetie, there's someone here to meet you."

Slowly, eyelids opened and Superman was able to see blue reveal themselves. They were a breathtaking blue, reminding the man of some of the deepest sections of ocean he had flown over. He held his breath as the little girl blinked. The Flash hadn't been joking when he said she was adorable, for what she did next was one of the sweetest things Superman had seen a child do.

"Daddy!" She threw herself forward into Batman's arms, who easily caught her. "I missed you!"

"I missed you to, Sweetheart." Batman easily slipped into his true self whilst holding his daughter. He smiled up at his friend, nudging the girl's shoulder. "Riley, this is my friend, Clark Kent, also known as Superman, Clark, this is Riley, whose Robin."

Clark crouched down as Riley shifted so she could shake his hand as she still cuddled into Bruce. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." He was shocked at how strong her handshake was for a girl her age. He could see why Batman had allowed such a young child become his sidekick, seeing as she was clearly strong for her age, though the way she clung to her father figure hid it. "Your father has told me a lot about you. You like math and science, right?"

"Yes, and gymnastics, but dad won't let me do that at school encase someone realizes I'm Robin." Riley looked at Bruce with a confused frown on her face. "I thought I wasn't allowed to tell superheroes my real name."

Bruce chuckled at the fact that she was probably the only person who would question him. "Clark is a different case. He already knew who I was and no one can torture our identities out of him."

Her blue eyes widened. "But what if someone else gets torture cause they know... know The Flash's identity, or KF, or...or what if you get tortured cause you know Superman's identity?"

The man hugged his daughter to him as tears started filling her eyes. "Shh, that's not going to happen. I'm just paranoid from living in Gotham and now, with you here I'm worse." Once she had calmed down, he looked down and noticed that she was fighting sleep. "Alright, bed time, say good night to Clark." He picked her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest.

"Good night, Clark," she mumbled, waving her hand in his general direction. "Wait! Where's Professor Smooshy?" Riley in squermed in Bruce's arms, making him almost drop her. The toy was one of the few things she had left from her other life, seeing as the mafia boss who killed her parents had some of his underlings trash her room.

Quickly, Clark noticed the gorilla which had fallen to the ground when Riley had hugged Bruce. He picked it up, holding it out to the girl. "Is this Professor Smooshy?"

She nodded, taking it in her arms. "Thank you."

"Time to get you to sleep," proclaimed Bruce before turning to his friend. "Thanks for the help, Clark."

"Any time," the man of steel assured. "Bye."

Bruce carried his daughter up into the manor and to her room on the second story. When he laid her down on the bed, she looked up at him with tired, sad eyes.

"I miss them," she whispered.

"I know." Bruce sighed. This was the first anniversary, and he knew it was going to be hard. "But you know, in a week there is a meeting for Justice League members. Barry was meant to be looking after Wally since his parents were going away for the weekend and Iris has to work, but now he can't. Roy is going to be looking after him for that night and since you've been such a good little girl, I was thinking that you could go to and have a sleep over."

"I've never had a sleep over," she admitted in a soft voice.

"Yeah? Well you can have one next Saturday night. How does that sound?" Bruce stroked Riley's dark hair, doing anything he could think of to get rid of her tears.

"That sounds good," Riley muttered, hugging Professor Smooshy to her chest. She sat up enough to give Bruce a hug. "I love you, dad."

Bruce was lost for words as he blindly hugged her back. He knew Riley saw him as her second father, respected and cared for him, but she had never said that she loved him before. He tried to repress the large grin as he hugged her tighter. "I love you too, Sweetheart." He let her go and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

He walked out of the room to find Alfred standing there. Instantly, Bruce put a finger to his lips, knowing the question the other man wished to ask. Smiling widely, he beaconed for Alfred to follow him to his office. Once there, he sat in his chair and answered the unasked question. "I'm fine, Alfred, luckily Superman helped me out when it got a bit tricky."

The older man nodded once. "May I ask what has got you smiling so much, Master Bruce?"

"Riley told me she loved me," he admitted joyfully.

"I'm glad to hear that." Alfred stiffled a yawn. "If you don't mind, Master Bruce, I am going to retire for the night."

"Not at all. Good night, Alfred."

"Good night, Master Bruce."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She ducked the punch that was flying at her face, swinging her leg out as she ended up in a crouch. The man in front of her fell sideways as his legs were knocked out from under him. Robin stood back up and threw a bird-a-rang at an advancing man. He toppled forward as ropes wrapped around his ankles.

Next moment, a man rushed Robin; his mask resembling two-face didn't obscure his vision. The young girl acted quickly, flipping over the man, laughing as the man staggered to stop and turn to face her. She gave him a cheeky smile, her stance ready.

The man pulled out a gun, aimed it at her. "Little birdies shouldn't play with dangerous enemies."

"When I find a dangerous enemy, I'll keep that in mind," she taunted. She pulled out two Bird-a-rangs, one for each hand.

"Little twerp," the man spat.

"So mean," she replied with a fake pout.

The man aimed the gun at Robin's chest, pulling the trigger. Robin darted off to the side, crouching down with one leg straight as the man fired wildly at Robin's standing height. She threw both bird-a-rangs, one hitting the wrist holding the gun, making him drop the weapon, and the other hitting him on the forehead, temporarily dazing him. She easily did a cartwheel, landing on the man's shoulders with enough force to slam him to the ground, unconscious.

She turned to see how Batman was doing, finding him easily holding his own with seven men dressed in two-face masks. Robin knew for certain that Batman would be fine, so she scanned the room for Two Face. She spotted him on the second level and quickly darted into the shadows, making her way to Two Face's spot. She laughed before coming out of the shadows only a metre from him. He was surprised to see her there but he quickly recovered.

"Do you honestly think you can take me on, Little Birdie?" he hissed, glaring at her.

"I'm willing to give it a try," Robin admitted. She sidestepped the punch he threw before kicking him in the stomach, pushing him back. As Two Face steadied himself, she hopped up on the railing in a crouch, making sure she kept her balance. She was reminded heavily of the tricks she and her parents had performed without a net. From her utility belt, she withdrew a small number of bird-bombs, throwing them at the wall and floor around the villain. Robin then stood up, flipping off the railing and slinging a rope over one of the beams supporting the roof. She landed on the ground in a crouch, her head down.

A noise made her look up, flicking her hair back. She saw Superman, Green Arrow, Speedy, Flash, Kid Flash, and Wonder Woman standing before her. They had only come since the Justice League meeting was meant to start soon and they knew Batman was held up. Instead of waiting around for him and the Flash, since he had make sure Wally went with Roy, they figured they would all travel together.

Her bombs went off, making some of the heroes gasp in shock as Two Face was lost in a cloud of smoke.

"Did you just kill him?" Wonder Woman yelped, wondering if the young hero had done the unforgivable.

Robin rolled her eyes, not that anyone could see. "No!"

The cloud dispersed and they saw Two Face suspended from a beam in the roof, the rope wrapped tightly around his body, stopping him from escaping. He wiggled and squirmed, trying to get out. "You little brat!" he yelled.

"Can you honestly not come up with a better insult? There are girls at my school more scary then you," Robin yelled back, sounding unimpressed. She looked over at Batman, who had finished rounding up all the bad guys and was walking over to her.

"Very nice," praised the man, drawing his daughter against his side.

"Thanks." Robin blushed lightly, hugging her dad's waist. She then looked over at Kid Flash, who was wearing goggles. Quickly, she had taken them off him. "Do these do anything?" She looked through them as Kid Flash huffed.

"They keep the wind out of my eyes," he explained.

"Boring." Robin tossed them back to their owner and walked off to get the bag she had left by the door. Walking back over, she opened it and pulled out three things. "I brought games."

"Awesome!" Kid Flash looked over the games she showed him, clearly in awe.

"Well, we should all get going," exclaimed Superman, looking at his fellow heroes. "The police are only one block over and we need to hurry since the others are already at headquarters."

Batman turned his glare onto Speedy, who gulped. "Anything happens to Robin and you are held accountable. I mean anything. A slight bruise and you're in trouble."

The Flash laughed, speed-stepping to the young archer's side, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "Yeah, anything happens to Baby Bat and Papa Bat will be _maaad!_"

Green Arrow chuckled as his protégé paled. "Everything will be fine, Batman, Speedy is trustworthy."

"Alright, Kid Flash, you need to show Speedy and Robin to the house, since neither of them have been there," Flash explained, knowing his nephew was soon going to get bored.

Robin and Kid Flash shot each other a look before the girl quickly hugged Batman. "Bye, Dad, I love you." Without waiting for a reply, she and Wally ran for the exit. When the two younger heroes got to the door, Robin jumped on Kid Flash's back.

Speedy only had to receive a look from all the adults at once to realise he had to go after them. "Come back here, you two," he yelled, racing after them.

The adults could hear Robin's laughter from outside.

"What's the bet he gets worn out before the other two?" Wonder Woman questioned with a chuckle. "Bats, I have to say, I never saw you as the overly protective, softy father."

"I'm hardly soft," snapped the man, narrowing his eyes at the Amazonian.

"Then why did you look so hurt that she ran off before you said bye?" Superman teased. When Batman had no reply, he went on. "It's good to see you care though. She has a good effect on you."

As the adults went to the Justice League headquarters, Speedy was still chasing Robin and Kid Flash down the street, yelling at them to stop. He was receiving many odd looks, the citizens of Gotham obviously recognising him. He followed the two through the zera tube that led to Central City. Eventually, after two blokes the two stopped, allowing him to jog up to them. He knew Kid Flash hadn't been going at full speed for two reasons: he was carrying Robin, and he didn't want Speedy to lose them.

Kid Flash put Robin down, watching her stand on wobbly legs. When her knees buckled, he grabbed her arms to steady her. The dark haired girl laughed.

"That was weird," Robin laughed, holding a hand to her head. "Though it's made me a little sick."

Kid Flash grinned, keeping his friend upright as he vibrated, something he did when excited or happy. "That always happens the first time." He looked over at the archer. "Speedy, good to see you caught up to us. Ready to go?"

Speedy sighed, giving the younger boy the evil eye. "Come on, before Batman kills me."

"No," protested the girl, shaking her head. "He'll just maim you a little."

"Comforting," muttered Speedy, putting a hand on each younger heroes shoulder and marching them in what he hoped was the right direction. Kid Flash didn't protest so it must have been. When they reached the house, they had to sneak in so that the neighbours didn't notice three heroes entering the Allen Household.

Once inside they quickly changed into the civilian clothing, Robin getting redressed in the bathroom, before setting up the play station in the guest room where Wally had been staying for the last two days. The room was a little messy, making Speedy, who was now Roy, roll his eyes but Robin to shrug and plop down on the bed, facing the TV, the glasses she wore being made out of a special glass so they couldn't see her eyes but she could see fine in the dark. The speedster, dressed in pyjamas, sat down next to her, dropping a remote into her lap.

"Aunt Iris left money on the table for take out," explained Wally, loading up a game. "I feel like Chinese but we can have something else."

"Chinese is good," agreed Robin as Roy settled down on the floor, his back against the bed.

"I'll order a little later, alright?" Roy asked, getting two nods.

"You are so dead!" Robin exclaimed, hitting buttons on the remote control. They were playing a fighting game and it seemed the girl had the upper hand even though Wally was using super speed. Unfortunately, the game couldn't keep up with him. It only was only a few more seconds before Wally's character was K. . "Yes!"

"Hey, it's first to five," reminded the red head.

The three switched between versing each other in various games and watching movies. The two boys quickly learned that Robin was not overly girly and was skilled at fighting games. This wasn't overly surprising truthfully, since she was trained by Batman.

Roy realised quickly that Wally and Robin were the type of people that instantly clicked and he had a funny feeling that would be troublesome. He had noticed that the two only had to look at each other in Gotham to decide that they would run off, making him chase them. Now, the two kept shooting each other what appeared to be innocent looks but he had a feeling the two friends were plotting something devious. He would have to warn Flash because if they all weren't careful the two would end up best friends... and maybe super villains if his hunch as to why they kept looking at each other were right.

As Wally won the race he hand Roy were playing on the Playstation2, Robin poked Roy on the cheek, making him look over. "I'm hungry."

Sighing, Roy stood up and walked out into the kitchen to see the money sitting on the dining table along with a variety of take out menus. He found the one for the Chinese store just before he heard Robin scream. Thinking the worse, he turned and rushed back into the room, not noticing the wire the young girl and speedster had set up. He fell and braced himself with his hands for the impact.

"Now," Robin said.

From under the bed, Wally pushed a square piece of cardboard out from under the bed with a devise from Robin's utility belt. He landed with his hands on ever side of the thing, but then it went off and threw powder in his face as Robin dropped something on his head. With a cough, Roy looked up at Robin who was standing right in front of him.

"You look pweeety," Robin said with a cheeky smile. She then raised a small camera and snapped his photo. The moment the photo was taken, she jumped over the teenage and ran out of the room, Wally wiggling out from under the bed to follow.

Roy wasn't sure what had just happened to him, but he was certain it wasn't good. He jumped to his feet and raced after the two. He could hear Wally's feet pounding on the ground, seeing as he wasn't using super speed, but he couldn't hear Robin at all. Roy followed Wally, finding him running down the hall towards the bathroom.

Unfortunately, when the speedster saw him coming and used his talents to get to the bathroom and slam the door shut before the archer could get there. Roy banged his fist on the door after realising that it was locked. "Come out or I'll just find Robin and get her to pick the lock."

"Unlikely," came a chipper voice.

His eyes widened at Robin's voice. "How the hell did you get in there so quick?"

"I have my ways. Oh, and I've sent the picture to the Batcave. Wally, I think we should let him in so he can see his face." There was a pause. "Plus I'm hungry."

The door clicked open and Wally pulled Robin out quickly, rising to the bedroom. Roy dashed into the room, looking in the mirror above the sink. He gasped, unable to believe what the two kids had done. The powder had been various colours aimed at various parts of his face. He had blue on his eyelids, pink on his cheeks, and red on his lips. The thing dropped on his head had been a wig with brown curls. He was not happy upon first seeing it, but then he stopped and thought that not only was the prank funny, but he only had to put up with the two of them for the night, Batman and Flash had to put up with the two all the time. He could handle a prank from the two younger heroes and hopefully he would get pictures of any prank they pull of their mentors.

With a shake of his head, he washed off the make-up and walked back into the bedroom to find the two terrors sitting cross legged on Wally's bed, looking at the menu for the Chinese shop. On Robin's pyjama clad leg sat a note book she was writing in. The moment he appeared in the door frame, the young girl looked up, her reflexes reminding him that she was Batman's protégé.

"We're writing out what we want," she explained before laughing. "You missed a spot."

Wally grinned wickedly. "Did you enjoy your make over?"

"If you two ever pull a prank on either of your mentors, send me a photo," he demanded, throwing the wig at Robin, who put it on as a joke.

"I've already pulled a prank on Dad," remarked Robin, looking at the menu in Wally's hands. "He missed Christmas cause of a kidnapping. I painted the Batcave green and red, turned the Batbike and Batplane into reindeer, turned his spare suits into Santa suits and when he stepped out of the Batmobile he was covered in honey and then white fluff on his face and red glitter at his body. He looked like a very surprised and cranky Santa."

The two boys howled with laughed through the whole story. When they finally calmed down, Robin showed Wally her list, getting a confirmative nod off him.

"You sure it's not too much?" she asked.

"You've never seen a speedster eat after a long day," he replied, handing the list to Roy.

The eldest looked over it before frowning. "I don't think Iris left us enough money."

"No, but Dad gave me money." Robin dug in her bag, pulling out her green jumper, a toy gorilla and her utility belt, which she had put in there after changing, before she pulled out her wallet. Opening the wallet, she pulled out some notes, handing them to Roy. "That should be more than enough."

"There's $100 here!" exclaimed the teenager.

"I don't have smaller notes," shrugged the girl, the brown curls bounced.

When the food arrived, Roy made sure to give Robin her change before they all sat on the floor watching a movie as they ate. There wasn't too much food, since the human heroes could eat a lot after a hard day and Wally could easily eat all that they couldn't.

It was 11:00pm when the first of the three fell asleep. Roy and Wally had been playing one of the games Robin had brought and when the younger boy had looked to the side to tell her how much he liked the game only to see the little bird asleep. Her hand was tucked under her cheek, one on either side of Wally's pillow. The two boys shrugged before Roy carefully removed Robin's glasses, figuring Batman wouldn't mind, especially since the moment they were taken away, she buried her face in the pillow.

Half an hour later, Wally had a mug of warm honey milk, since he couldn't find the tea bags, so that he wouldn't fidget in his sleep. Shortly after, he started yawning heavily before lying down and falling to sleep as well.

Roy got up after that and set up the lounge in the living room for him to go to sleep as well. He didn't think it would be long before the Allens got home. Luckily, they knew he would be asleep in the living room so they would be quiet when entering.

He wasn't wrong. Ten minutes after the archer had fallen into a deep sleep, Barry and Iris Allen came home. After the League meeting, and her work, they two had decided to go to the movies to give the kids time to hang out. However, they were wondering what damage had occurred in their absence. Surveying all rooms, though, they realised only Wally's room was a mess, something it was before the other two arrived.

Barry stood in the doorway to the guest room Wally used when he stayed over. Lying on the bed facing each other, their hands only a centimetre apart, were two young heroes. Looking at them, he found it hard to believe that they would one day take their mentors' places. The two looked far too young. As he studied their faces, trying to imagine what they would look like when that happened, Robin started whimpering.

The adult speedster frowned, listening closely as Robin started whispering something in another language. If he had to guise, he would say it was Romani, but he didn't know what she was saying, and she was getting louder. With her rise in volume came thrashing. She was throwing herself back and forth, tears running down her face, escaping under her closed lids. Next moment, Barry had to run to her side as she threw herself off the bed. He caught her easily and rolled her back on the bed, only to find his nephew awake and looking at his friend's pained face.

Wally studied her appearance for a moment, raised up on one arm, before lying back down and draping an arm over Robin, pulling her towards him. His green eyes closed again, making Barry wonder if he had actually been completely awake, or even awake at all. Hugging her seemed to work, since the moment she was drawn into Wally's embrace, she stopped crying, or talking or any other thing that did not symbolise a peaceful sleep.

Barry walked back out of the room and to his bedroom where his wife was getting ready for bed. "Iris, I need to talk to Batman, do you mind if I invite him here? It should only take a few minutes."

Iris smiled, understandingly. "Of course, but don't be long, you know I like going to sleep being hugged."

Barry chuckled. "I think Robin is the same." At his wife's confused look, he elaborated. "Robin was having a nightmare until Wally started hugging her."

A large smile spread across the woman's face. "I'm getting a photo." She ran from the room.

"And Robin thinks I'm weird." Barry shook his head before contacting Batman, telling him that they needed to talk. Within five minutes the caped crusader had snuck into his house and was standing in his office, where Barry had been waiting. "Robin's not your daughter."

"What makes you say that?" growled the other man.

"You don't know Romani. I remember a man we saved speaking it and neither of us knew what he was saying. Robin had a nightmare and she was speaking the same language." Barry sighed, sitting down at his desk. "Batman, talk to me! Why did Robin sound so scared?"

Batman stood there in silence for a moment before he reached up and removed his cowl. "Robin's parents died almost a year ago. That's why I asked you if she could sleep over, I wanted her around friends her own age when I couldn't be there."

Barry studied the man's face. "Are you... Bruce Wayne?" When he received a nod, more puzzle pieces fell into place. "So that girl in there is Riley Grayson, the acrobat who lost her parents... in front of her. No wonder she's having nightmares."

"Allen," Bruce started, giving his signature batglare, which was actually worse without the cowl since it was obvious he was a protective father as well.

"I'm not telling anyone, not even Wally," he promised, knowing where the glare was going. "She's asleep now, just so you know. Wally settled her down without even waking her."

"I'm still going to check on her," Batman told him, putting his mask back on and sweeping out of the room.

Barry didn't question how he knew what room she was in, he simply followed and stood in the doorway as Batman crouched down beside the bed and pushed a strand of hair out of Robin's face. He scolded when Wally hugged Robin tighter, sensing in his sleep that someone was near the girl.

With a heavy sigh, the Dark Knight rose to his full height and left the room. He stopped next to Barry and sized up the man. "Do not tell Robin you know her identity. I will tell her that when I take her home. If you are alright with it, she can stay until noon tomorrow."

Barry smiled, knowing the only reason Batman said such a late time was because Wally was protective of DaddyBat's little girl even in his sleep. "She can stay as long as you want her too. She's always welcome here."

"You wouldn't say that if you had noticed the make-up on Roy's face."

The Flash looked over at the archer with a frown. When he turned back to his fellow hero to ask what he meant, he found that Batman had left. "He moves fast, even for me."

_**I'm glad so many people liked the first chapter and hope this one received just as well. R and R if you wish.**_


	3. Anniversaries and Traditions

_**A couple of people have been asking me questions about where this story is going. Yes, I will be writing about when they are part of Young Justice, no, Robin will not be dressing as a boy, this is a Robin is a girl and everyone knowns it story, and I have no plans to create a gender-bender where Robin is turned into a boy.**_

_**Also, whenever Wally Riley or any hero are in costume, they will be referred to as Kid Flash, Robin or their superhero name so that it's easier to know, at least with Robin, whether or not they are hiding who they are. If that makes sense.**_

It was heartbreaking. Since she woke up, she had been lying on her side, staring blankly at the wall, Professor Smooshy clutched so tightly to her chest that if he was real, he would be screaming in pain. He knew the first anniversary was going to be hard, he himself had experience one. One felt nauseous, and it felt as though there was a pained emptiness where ones heart was. Along with these, came a clear head, where images of the loved ones death played over and over, tormenting the person.

There was little he could do, though he wished he could take all her pain away. He sighed softly before walking into the room and sitting on the bed. Instantly, his daughter turned over so she was facing him and buried her face in his chest, the stuffed gorilla still in her grasp. As he stocked her back, her shoulders started to shake. A damp patch appeared on Bruce's shirt as tears forced their way from Riley's eyes against her will, breaking the foster father's heart.

"They left," Riley mumbled, her voice laced with pain.

He decided his plan was his best bet, otherwise Riley may cry herself into exhaustion which may cause dehydration. Not to mention he didn't want to leave her alone after what she just said and her bed was to small. He easily scooped her into his arms, cradling her to his chest, and carried her out of the room. When she shifted, he looked down to find her tear filled eyes looking up at him in confusion. Bruce gave her a sad smile before explaining.

"I have my room set up so we can spend all day, in our pyjamas, watching what ever movie you want and as many movies as you want."

He placed her on his bed, which was a king size, and watched a small smile make its way only Riley's face. She sniffled, tugging on the sleeve of Bruce's long sleeve pyjama shirt.

"You're wearing your pyjamas. You never wear your pyjamas passed 7am."

"Yes, well, I couldn't let you be the only _lazy_ one around here," he said, tapping her shoulder and in doing so, the shirt she slept in.

Riley gave a wet giggle and she hugged Bruce, who had sat down on the bed. After a few mminutes, she moved over to the stacks of movies her father had moved up into the bedroom. He had wisely not brought up any movies that contained parents dying, even how remote, such as Snow White.

Although his plan didn't stop Riley from crying all together, it did make her smile a few times, and even laugh, which had been what he was aiming for. They ate on the bed, Alfred, who originally frowned at the idea, finally agreed to join them which made Riley laugh harder then many movie they had watched. The memory if the stuff man sitting on the edge of the bed, stiffly eating his dinner, seemed to be a memory that was going to implant itself into Riley's mind for a long time, which seemed to be the only reason Alfred agreed.

The next day, Bruce woke up to find his daughter curled up in a ball on the other side of her bed. In the caccon she had made with her body was her precious stuffed toy. When she had first moved into Wayne Manor, she had Professor Smooshy with her at all times, especially when she cried herself to sleep. Shortly after she had stopped needing the toy did Bruce introduce her to Gotham as his ward. He figured that she was ready when she no longer needed the gorilla, and he had been right, although he assured that none of the reporters asked her about her parents.

Truthfully, he had didn't know when he started thinking of Riley as his daughter, but he eventually started loathing calling Riley his _foster_ daughter. He didn't want to stop, however, encase she saw it as an insult to her parents, but those big blue eyes had won him over. At first, Bruce had let her into his life to help her, seeing their lives as parallel, but every time she had looked up at him from beside his desk in his office, asking if he wanted to watch a movie or play a game, every time she had stayed up late in the Batcave, waiting for him to come home, only to fall asleep, and every time she had hid her pain and tears when she accidently got hurt in training had worn down his hard heart. He finally noticed when he had gone to pick her up from school after a meeting, only for her to introduce him to her math teacher as 'Bruce', not even her foster father. It had surprisingly hurt, hearing his first name from this small child.

He had been extrodinately pleased when she had called him dad for the first time. They had been at a charity event and Riley had ran off to find food, since she had spent the day training and was hungry. Bruce had been talking to some of the other Gotham elites as well as the president of the charity. They had just inquired about Riley's whereabouts when she appeared out of the crowd, holding a plate with various foods on them.

"They have some of those cakes you like, so I got you some, Dad."

The word had rang through the small group. It seemed that everyone was waiting for Bruce's reaction, Riley especially, whose eyes had widened in shock ever so slightly, though she tried to hide it like he had trained her. It took a few seconds before the word fully regestered in his mind, since he had mentally replaced the word Bruce with Dad every time Riley said it, so at first, he did not realize she had truly said it. Once he did realize, he smiled and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, taking one of the mentioned cakes in his other hand.

"This is my daughter, Riley Grayson-Wayne."

Until that point he had not told her he had made her his heir, and a Wayne, but she had smiled up at him before taking a bite of a small sandwich.

Bruce smiled softly, pulling the blanket up to cover Riley's shoulders, before getting up and grabbing clothing out of the dresser. He walked into the en suite and turned on the shower, hopping in once he had undressed. He took no longer then ten minutes but as he was buttoning up his shirt there was a high pitched scream from the other room. Instantly, he was back in the bedroom and beside Riley, who had crawled so that her back was against the head board.

She was crying hesatically, Romani words tumbling from her lips. Her face was tucked down, beside Professor Smooshy, who was still hugged to her chest.

After the incident as Barry's house, Bruce had been attempting to learn Romani so he recognized 'alone' and 'gone'. He sat down on the bed gently and reached out his hand, lightly placing it on Riley's shaking shoulder. Blue eyes snapped up to meet his brown. The blue was swimming in red, looking like two balls of sea water miraculously surviving in sea of lava.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked, drawing her into his arms.

Riley gasped, trying to regain the ability to talk. "I... I woke up, a...a...and you were g...gone. I thought you l...left me."

Bruce hugged her tighter, seeing what happened. He should have thought to wake her before he left the room but he hadn't thought she would wake up before he finished he shower. However, he forgot he taught Riley to always be aware of her surroundings, even when asleep. After kissing her forehead, he moved away from her so that he could pull something out of the second draw on his bedside table.

"I'm not going to leave you without a fight, and I was going to give you this on your birthday, but this is to show it." He handed her an old, faded black box. As she opened it, he explained the significance. "This was my mother's, and her mother before that. She told me that I was to give it to my daughter, since it is a tradition."

Riley slowly ran her fingers over the stone that laid on the cushion. It was an oval ruby, roughly the size of an average woman's thumb nail. There were three round diamonds creating a triangle above and below the ruby. The beautiful pendant was on a simple, gold chain, which Bruce took out of the box to clasp around Riley's neck.

"You may not be my blood, but you are my daughter, so this necklace is yours." He stopped talking as Riley tackled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Dad."

"You're welcome, Sweetheart." Bruce kissed her forehead again before pulling back. "Now, you should go have a shower and get changed out of your pyjamas. I don't think Alfred will be pleased if you go down to breakfast in them."

Riley gave a wet laugh, this time tears of happiness filling her eyes, before pulling back and running from the room. It wasn't long before she joined Bruce in the dining room where breakfast was being served. The smile she gave them wasn't nearly as bright as the smile she normally wore but at least it was genuine. She had coped surprisingly well, considering.

Bruce had to force her to eat more than just a slice of toast, and he was thankful that he did, because only an hour after breakfast he received a call in the Batcave from the Flash who needed backup on a mission.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flash was taking care of the back guys whilst he was trying to find a way to where the explosives were being held. This was just a regular psycho with too much time on his hands who felt it was funny to gather many innocent children and teenagers, put them in one of the most impenetrable buildings in Central City and blow it up. That way they could stay innocent for the rest of their lives.

Kid Flash was fairly certain he had to go through the door in front of him to find the explosives, and even the hostages, but he was no good at hacking. The only option he had was to try and vibrate his molecules through the door. He had yet to actually try it, but he had seen his uncle do it multiple times. He backed up a hundred meters and ran at his top speed towards the door. At the last moment, he felt a wave of panic come over him and subconsciously he pulled back. It was lucky that he decelerated slightly for if he had hit the door at full speed he may have gained a head injury, instead he had a bloody nose.

As he held his nose in pain he heard a very familiar and very distinct laugh from the shadows beside him, making him jump. Frowning, he turned his eyes to scan the darkness but couldn't find anything until Robin found it appropriate to step out. He gasped in shock, since the girl seemed to melt out of the shadows more than simply move out of them.

The girl had a large, amused grin on her face. "Thank god you aren't the Road Runner, Willy Coyote would have you by now."

"With that grin I thought you were the Willy Coyote," retorted Kid Flash, sitting up and examining how much blood was on his fingers. He jumped a little when something landed in his lap. Looking down, he found a pair of goggles. These ones were a deep red, matching his gloves and boots, opposed the black pair he had gotten off his dad. When he put them on he realised they also had infrared and zone on it so that he didn't have to use binoculars. "COOL!"

Robin smirked, already connecting the little computer on her wrist up to the consol on the wall that would open the door. "Thought you might like them. Now, do you want me to open the door?"

"Can you do it?" he asked, coming up behind her.

The scoffed, looking over her shoulder at him. "Batman changed the system on the Batcave three times and I got in each time." After a few moments, there was a beep and the door slid open. "Talent!" She paused, cocking her head to the side. "Why is it that people say 'talent' if they do something well, but they don't say 'untalent' when they do something bad? Like you running into the wall?"

"I don't know," confessed Kid Flash before looking down the long wall way that had just been revealed. "Want a lift?"

Robin narrowed her eyes. "Don't run into anything!" She then climbed onto his back. "Mush, Rudolph."

He paused for a moment before realising she had no way of knowing that that was his middle name. He then ran down the corridor, letting everything around them become a blur. He tried not to laugh when Robin gave a little scream when he sharply turned at the end of the corridor. When he finally found a room, one that needed hacking, he put Robin down, trying not to laugh as she wobbled on her legs, looking pale under her mask.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," she mumbled before attempting to walk to the consol so that she could unlock the door. Unfortunately, her knees gave out from under her. Kid Flash quickly scooped her up and carried her closer whilst she scoffed. "I'm not a doll."

"No, but this is quicker," replied the red head, putting the small girl down.

When the door was opened, they saw the hostages, locked in a cage off to left of the room, and a large bomb in the centre. They walked towards the device to see what they were dealing with and found a timer on it. They had seven minutes left.

"Can you deactivate that?" Kid Flash asked in a pained voice, as though he feared the answer.

"Only if I can get Dad to instruct me." She instantly checked her comm.. "Batman, we've found a bomb and I need your help. Can you talk me through it?" After a moment, Robin turned back to Kid Flash. "Can you get those kids out of the cage?"

"I can't pick locks." Next moment, Kid Flash found a small bird bomb in front of his nose. "Put that on the lock and tell them to move back and I'll blow the lock up from here."

The Speedster quickly did as he was instructed, silently thanking his uncle for calling the Dynamic Duo in, as Gotham had started to call them. Once the door was open, he turned back to the girl who was talking to her father through the comm. System. He didn't want to leave her there, but he knew he had to guide the people out, since he had had to take many turns before running into Robin... and the door.

"I'm going to guide them out, but I'll be back as quickly as possible."

Robin nodded, her gaze not leaving the device in front of her. "If you can, find the remote for this. Batman and Flash are trying to but even if I stop the countdown, the remote can activate it."

Kid Flash didn't hesitate with that news and quickly took the children and teenagers out of room and towards the entrance of the building. He ran as fast as he could without losing them all, even picking up a little five year old boy who kept tripping over his feet. He led them around the room in which his mentor and the Dark Knight were fighting and found them a safe passage outside, where he told them to get a safe distance away where until the heroes had everything sorted. He then ran back into the room that Batman and Flash were.

The main guy, who called himself The Purifier, had gained a decent amount of followers who were keeping the two superheroes busy. Kid Flash decided to cut around the minions and go for the leader, knowing he would have the trigger. Once he was in front of the man, who had slicked back, blond hair, and a clean shaven look, the man smiled.

"Kid Flash, you are young enough to be purified, unlike the two adults." His voice was rich, but mildly raspy.

Kid Flash refrained to roll his eyes, knowing that wouldn't help Robin, who was still beside the bomb, if Batman's whispering was anything to go off of. "What do you mean by purified?"

The man scoffed in a pompous fashion. "Children now-a-days, are exposed to so much violence and despicable behaviour that they need cleansing. That is what I am offering. Those children who are too far gone must be reborn, whilst others simply need to be taught values until they forget all the other horrible things they have been shown."

"I see." Kid Flash nodded, as though he truly agreed. "Alright, what do I have to do to be purified?"

The Purifier smiled widely, pulling the bomb remote out of his pocket. "We have to set the others free, together."

The Speedster smiled wickedly, quickly stepping beside the man, stealing the remote and stepping away. "Sorry, but I think the most heinous thing someone can do is hurt Robin, she's too precious and beautiful to die. See ya." He ran all the way back to Robin's side, the girl's eyes snapping to meet his when he passed the threshold. Her senses were the high of a bat's, so he shouldn't have been so surprised. "Got it! The guy tried to recruit me."

Robin laughed as she cut one final wire. "The bomb is deactivated, Batman, and KF has the remote." She stood from her crouch and turned to Kid Flash. "I think we can head out, but I'm running at a human speed."

Kid Flash laughed and jogged out with her.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So," Flash puffed, punching another man in the face. He felt sort of bad since he looked no older then Speedy. "Robin mentioned to Kid Flash and Speedy that her birthday was coming soon."

"Your point?" Batman grumbled when the man in red stopped talking.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have a birthday party for her. I know some of your old mentors wouldn't mind meeting her."

Batman knew that when Flash mentioned his old mentors he was simply trying to goat him into accepting as well as inform the billionaire that he had already told the retired heroes about Robin. They would all want to meet her, especially when it was her birthday. He gave a soft sigh before nodding his head, not wanting Robin to hear their plans over the comm. System.

"Fine, I will talk to you later about it."

Flash gave a slight cheer, swinging his arm out in happiness and succeeding in knocking a man out. "Oh, sorry."

"Flash, they have the bomb sorted, The Purifier is no longer a threat."

In a blink of an eye, Flash had all the minions and The Purifier tied up. He turned to Batman with a giant grin on his face as their two sidekicks ran into the room.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had woken up and walked down stairs, only to find a large pile of presents higher then she had ever seen before waiting for her in the living room. She had been rendered speechless as she stood there, staring at them all and wondering if they could truly be all for her. Riley didn't move until Bruce came up and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Are they all for me?" she asked in shock.

"If you don't want them, I can easily take them back," joked the man, smirking down at the girl.

"No, no," she yelped, clinging to his arm. "I want them."

"Well they're not going to unwrap themselves." Bruce nudged her in the direction of the colourfully wrapped gifts and watched as she ran forward. He smiled over at Alfred, who was taking a photo. When Bruce sat down on the couch behind where Riley sat on the floor, he took another.

The black haired girl received almost every toy she had showed interest in whilst at the Mall with Bruce or Alfred, as well as an assortment of clothing and instruments for her utility belt. She also got a Robin figurine that had only been released a few weeks before. She knew Bruce had bought her it as a joke. She knew one of the outfits, as well as the body glitter was from Alfred. She used to wear the same type of glitter at the circus and had mentioned to Alfred how it had been one of the parts of her costume she found most fun. She also received a card from Hay's circus.

It was more enjoyable then her last birthday, since she had not felt like celebrating it after losing her parents only two weeks before.

"Thank you, Dad, thank you, Alfred." She hugged each man as she thanked them.

"You should get dressed into your costume after breakfast, since we are going out on a call." Bruce took a sip of his coffee as his daughter narrowed her blue eyes on him.

"Where to?" Riley asked sceptically.

"Central City. There seems to be some Gotham villains that are branching out and since the Speedsters haven't dealt with them before, I figured we should. However, you can stay here if you want, since it's your birthday." He tried to keep the proud smile off his face as Riley studied his face with distrust.

"No, I'll go."

An hour and a half later, the two were in their costumes and sneaking into a warehouse off towards the docks. The room was dark as they ventured in, but when they were close to the centre of the room the lights came on and they were surrounded by many masked faces.

"SURPRISE!" they cheered.

"I KNEW IT!" Robin turned to look at her father, a wide grin on her face.

"You told?" whined Flash, appearing in front of the father and daughter.

"No, he didn't," promised the nine-year-old, "He told me some Gotham bad guys were hiding here and he thought we should deal with it. No matter what, he would have called you in, since you know the city better."

"This is what happens when the greatest detective has a child," sighed Green Arrow, shaking his head.

Batman chuckled before putting a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

She met the Justice Society of America, who had trained her father to be the hero he was now, which she enjoyed, since they all had stories about how much he messed up when he started out. Robin discovered she had shown more natural talent then Batman, though that could have been because of her acrobatic history and natural flair for hacking. She also met Aquaman and his new sidekick Aqualad who was only just starting out so he was only allowed on light mission. She also was reintroduced to the few heroes she met on the might of her sleep over.

She only received gifts off of Black Canary, Flash, Superman, Green Arrow and Speedy together, Kid Flash and her father's mentors but she was more than pleased with the party and meeting everyone. From the mentors, who consisted of the original Flash, Hawkman, Hourman and Wildcat, she received a picture of her father and Black Canary with the Justice Society. From Black Canary she received a jewellery box that was green with robins flying across it. It looked hand painted. Flash gave her a book titled: Most Amazing Acrobats in History, which had the Flying Graysons in it. She was thankful for her mask at that time for she felt tears appear in her eyes at the picture of her parents and her performing the legendary quadruple somersault. Superman's gift made her laugh, since it was a female gorilla, similar to Professor Smooshy. She whispered so that only he could hear that she would name her Doctor Squishy, so they that they fit together. From Green Arrow and Speedy she received a fighting game that wasn't even available yet. Lastly, Kid Flash gave her a charm bracelet with no charms, but the clasp was a filigree heart with an emerald in it. She had made him put it on her the moment she opened the box.

After opening the gifts, and thanking everyone for them, she had cut the cake. At that moment she was holding a plate with a large slice of pearl cake on it as her other hand was held up by Black Canary. The blonde was studying the charm bracelet Kid Flash had gotten her.

"He has good taste," she praised before noticing the girl looking off to the other side of the room. "What's wrong?"

"Green Arrow, his lonely. You should go talk to him." Robin tried to look innocent as she pressed for the woman to go over to the archer. The nine-year-old knew that Black Canary had a crush on Batman, but also knew that she would be better off if she realised Green Arrow cared for her.

"But..."

"I'll be fine," assured Robin with a sweet smile. "I have cake, and KF is just over there." When the blonde had nodded and walked away, she turned to walk towards the red head only to find him in front of her. "Hey."

"Happy birthday," he exclaimed, holding out a small jewellery box.

Robin laughed before sitting her plate down on the windowsill. "You've already said that, and you already gave me a gift." She took the box out of his hand nevertheless.

"This isn't a new gift," he explained. "You're charm bracelet is for me to fill. For every mission we go on, and are awesome, you get a charm. The main thing to stop the mission from being awesome is you getting hurt."

"I see," gasped Robin jokingly. "This is a bribe, so I won't get hurt."

"Exactly!" Agreed Kid Flash as Robin opened the lid of the box. His smile grew at her shock. "I figured the first two should represent us, since it was the mission we met on, and the mission we first worked as a team." He pulled the first one out of the box, which was an upside down lightning bolt. "I got this one made out of part of the metal that nearly skewered you. It's plated so that it won't rust." He put it on her bracelet before pulling out the second one, which was an R with green stones. "This one is for our second mission, since you were the only reason we saved all those people." He put the R next to the lightning bolt.

Robin smiled widely, shaking her wrist slightly so that they chimed as they bumped each other. "Thank you, KF." She hugged him, kissing his cheek. It was a tradition in her family, every time someone was to given a gift, they kissed the cheek of the one who gave it to them. She hadn't thought anything of it until Kid Flash had blushed when she kissed his cheek for her first gift. She figured it wasn't something everyone did, but she wasn't going to lose her family traditions. If Kid Flash wanted to fill the charm bracelet then he had to get used to it.

"You're welcome, Robin, but make sure you stay uninjured." Kid Flash stole the slice of cake off the windowsill.

"You play dirty." Robin narrowed her eyes before stealing back her cake. "And no eating my cake."

"Dude!" whined Kid Flash, trailing after her as she walked towards Speedy, laughing.


	4. Awakening

Sweat was running down her face and panic was gripping her heart. A year of playing hero could apparently not prepare her for a fight against the Joker. His movements seemed so unplanned and sporadic that Batman and Robin couldn't make a plan to get at him without risking casualties. Fighting in the middle of the street was not ideal. What was worse was that they were both exhausted and the Joker didn't seemed to be giving up any time soon.

Robin jumped out from behind the building she was hiding behind to have a moments breather. Quickly, she punched a man in the face before flipping away from a group of men who were trying to circle her. She put her back to Batman's, his shadow draping over her in a comforting manner.

"Breath and relax, Robin," Batman whispered. "I'll get you out of here." He lunged forward, knocking out two men as Robin faced her own battle.

The young girl whipped around when she heard a painful thump. Her heart stopped when she saw her father lying on the ground, unconscious, a dark patched appearing on the back of his cowl. She gave a strangled yelp before her body and mind seemed to pause. Robin couldn't move even as she watched the Joker walk towards her father.

"Now that DaddyBats is down, I'll finish him off and move on to you, BabyBird." He cackled, his large clown smile stretching even further.

Something snapped in Robin and she slammed her body into the man in front of her before connecting her grappling hook to a lamp post and slinging towards her father. She kicked the Joker in the chest, making him fly backwards, before flipping her body backwards with a foot either side of her father's torso. She crouched down protectively, pulling out two night sticks, one for each hand. A growl escaped her lips as she sneered at the man.

"Stay away from him," she hissed, hitting an emergancy button on her belt that would alert the Justice League to her location. "Batman's down, I'm versing the Joker on my own," she spoke into her comm. which would broadcast to the Justice League headquarters before finding the closest hero. Her words were slightly muffled, seeing as her lip had swollen a little from a cut it had sustained.

The Joker jumped to his feet and dusked himself off. He grinned, noticing the fear that held the girl but also knew he was going to get a good fight from her, even if he did find her predictable.

However, what he didn't realize was that Robin was only predictable to him whilst she had been trying to stay safe for her fathers sake. She narrowed her eyes before somersaulting forward. She landed in front of the man and quickly crouched, slamming the night stick the man in the stomach as he swung for where her face had been. When the man doubled forward, winded, she upper cut him to the jaw and then, before he could recover, she stood straight and round house kicked him, dislocating his jaw.

She swung at an advancing minion, her night stick slamming into the man's elbow. Robin then spun out of the way of an oncoming hit. A well aimed bird bomb dispersed the men who had been attempting to surround her. As she slid between one man's legs, grabbing his ankles as she went to pull his legs out from under him, she saw the Joker pop his jaw back into place. She elbowed a man in the stomach who had been attempting to sneak up on her. Before she could knock him out, however, he took a shunning arrow it the back.

She looked over to see Green Arrow and Speedy had answered her distress call. "Get dad out!" she instructed, using a voice that demanded that they listen to her. One she had learned from Batman. She even added in the signature glare for good measure. Looking back over to her father, who was still out cold, she saw the Joker making his way over to Batman's unmoving form, gun in hand. "No!" she growled before somersaulting forward with the legendary quadruple somersault so that none of the minions could catch her. On the fourth she twisted her body so that she was to land behind the Joker, facing his back. As she came down, she brought out her night stick and slammed it down beside the Joker's neck, hitting a pressure point. He dropped down as Robin landed gracefully on her feet.

After catching her breath, Robin ran to her father's side where Green Arrow was checking him over. "Daddy?"

"His going to be fine, Robin, maybe a mild concussion," assured Speedy, putting a hand on the ten-year-old's shoulder.

Green Arrow raised his eyes and studied the girl's face which was set in a look of fear. This was a striking contrast to the one she wore when she fought the Joker. At that moment there had been a frightening look on her face, which was why the Joker had looked scared for a moment before Robin's stick had knocked him out. At that moment though, she looked like a little girl who was terrified she was going to loose her father. "Is there anyway you can get him back to the Batcave for treatment?"

The girl thought for a moment before nodding and tapping her wrist computer. "Agent A, Batman is unconscious. Can you come get us?"

"Of course, Miss Robin," came the voice. "I will be there in five minutes."

Robin turned back to the two archers, as though expecting them to have answers. "I tried to help him."

"Robin," Green Arrow started, standing up and walking around to crouch in front of the girl, grasping her shoulders. "It happens, and it is not your fault. It's just a risk that comes with being a super hero." He handed her a tissue to hold against her bleeding lip whilst they waited.

Her eyes didn't leave her father's face until Green Arrow and Speedy put Batman into the back of the car Agent A was driving. She sat in the passenger seat, not saying a word. Once Agent A and she had gotten him into his bedroom, she left so that Alfred could change Batman and check his injuries after removing his own mask.

Once changed into a pair of jeans, a green turtle neck and a leather jacket, she put on her sunglasses, the necklace she got from her dad just before her ninth birthday, and her charm bracelet that had five charms on it. After that she wrote a note for Alfred, explaining where she was going and left the house. Using the zeta tubes, she quickly got to Central City and made her way to Wally's house. She had never actually been to the red head's house before since they tended to spend time at Barry's, the pizza place or the Mall in Central City, but she had known where he lived from the day after finding out his name. She simply thought she might need it one day and it turned out she was right.

She snuck into the house through Wally's bedroom window, not wanting to deal with adults questioning her mood. Once in the room she discovered that her friend wasn't there, though he may have just been in the kitchen getting food. Silently, she crawled onto his bed and put her back on the pillow leaning against the head board before hugging the second pillow to her chest. At that moment Robin wished she had brought Professor Smooshy with her.

Wally walking in the room with a sandwich in his mouth only to jump violently in surprise at the sight of his friend, sitting on his bed. "Robin? What are you doing here? Why are you injured?"

She looked up slowly, trying it find the strength to talk. "We were fighting the Joker and dad got hurt. I never really thought about it before, but he could die." Sobs prevented her from speaking any more, but she had said everything she wanted to say anyway. "I… I don't want to lose him."

Instantly, Wally was beside his friend, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "It's alright, Robin. Batman is stubborn, he won't die." He pulled her closer, letting her cry. "You weren't hurt, were you? Besides the lip?"

Robin shook her head, wiping away tears from under her sunglasses. "No, turns out I'm not as predictable as the Joker thought when my dad's hurt."

"Good." The speedster released a sigh of relief before letting go of Robin. "What you need is video games and a cup of my mum's honey tea." He was out of the room before Robin could blink and back after a minute. "It'll be done soon. Mum and Dad were a little surprised you were here, since they didn't hear you, but they shouldn't be. You are the _Girl Wonder_!"

A groan escaped Robin's lips. The news had came up with that one after they had seen her rescue six hostages without the woman robbing the bank noticing. She had snuck out of the shadows, untied them, gave them instructions on how to get out and made a small distraction in one of the offices. Ever since then she had been called 'Girl Wonder', which had been a source of teasing with Wally, Roy and even Kaldor, who was Aqualad's real name. A dark look covered Robin's face as she remembered what had driven her to her friend's place.

Wally was at her side again, hugging her to him. He rubbed her back as she squeezed her eyes closed, trying to keep the tears at bay. "How about we watch a movie instead?" He let her go to go find a movie in the lounge room. He didn't care if it was one of his mother's girly movies, as long as he thought it would make Robin smile. Once he had found one, he went back into his room and put it on, lying down and pulling Robin to him.

She didn't stop him since she had fallen to sleep lying next to him at sleepovers enough to not care. She simply adjusted the way she was laying so she could see the TV. Robin tried to push away the thoughts of her father, lying motionless on the ground but she couldn't seem to do it, and instead she felt tears leaking through her shut eyelids.

Wally simply hugged her tighter, rubbing her back in a calming method. When she was drinking her tea he still rubbed her back, knowing it was helping. He sat up when she sat her mug on his bedside table and turned to look at him.

"Wally." She stopped, frowning behind her glasses.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

Robin looked him in the eyes, even though she knew his green eyes couldn't see her blue. "Promise me you'll do everything possible to stay with me! Don't… don't leave me."

Wally gave her a small smile before wrapping his arms around her torso. "Forever and always," he whispered into her hair. "I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me forever, even if you don't want me."

Robin gave a wet laugh, dropping her head onto Wally's shoulder. "I think I can live with that," she agreed, amusement coating her words.

"You better," the speedster jokingly growled before tackling Robin to the bed. She squealed before laughter issued as a result to Wally tickling her.

For an hour Wally did everything in his power to make Robin laugh and smile, pulling her mind away from the image that had been plaguing it. He would have happily continued all day if a man hadn't came to the West's front door.

He wore a suit, a domino mask and had slicked back silver hair. He seemed friendly enough but Mr. and Mrs. West were hesitant to let him in, even when he smiled.

"I have come to retrieve Miss Robin."

"Who?" Mr. West snapped, thinking he may be a person wishing to hurt Robin.

"I admire that you protect her, but I am Agent A," he explained, stepping into the house without permission. "Miss Robin," he called.

Robin ran out of Wally's bedroom and saw the man standing there. "Agent A," she gulped. "What happened?"

"Batman is awake and resting fine, so I thought I would come retrieve you. He's very worried about you." Agent A gave her a reassuring smile.

With a sigh of relief, Robin turned to Wally, who had run out after her. She gave him a hug before turning to his parents. "Thank you for having me over, Mr. and Mrs. West. I'll try to use the door from now on. Bye Wally."

"See ya, Robin," replied the red head before the Girl Wonder followed Agent A out of the house.

"Was he a Bat-Butler?" Mrs. West asked in confusion.

Wally just shrugged, hoping his friend would be okay.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He looked sleepy, making her hesitate at the door, but when he saw her and smiled, she knew she couldn't walk away. Venturing deeper into the room, she ended up at the side of the bed before she sat on the edge. Riley scanned her father's face, trying to see the emotions he was hiding. She could tell he was in pain, but he was also worried about how she was handling the situation. A sigh passed her lips before she started talking.

"I'm okay, I just had to talk to someone," she explained, looking down at the grey quilt cover.

"Did Wally help you?" Came the deep voiced question.

Riley smirked at the fact he knew she went to Wally before she nodded. "Yeah, and I understand accidently happen, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop fighting to keep you alive. I know you probably wish I had turned and ran from the Joker when you fell, but I couldn't."

"You are right," admitted Bruce, sitting up a little and cringing as the bruises on his torso pinched. The Joker had given him a work out and he could see Riley had a split lip. "But I am so proud that you not only stood your ground but took him down. I am furious at myself for putting you in that situation but you handled it so well. You're my little Girl Wonder."

Riley snorted, rolling her eyes. She sobered up after a moment. "You scared me."

"I know." Bruce looked at her with complete sincerity. "And I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I guess I never thought about what it truly meant to be a hero." Riley paused. "We have to give ourselves to justice, so innocent people don't suffer." She went quiet again.

Riley looked at her father again, who was bruised, tired and at that moment, weak. She never wanted to have to see him like that again and would do everything in her power to stop it, from happening, as well as protect others she cared about. To do that though, she had to train harder and not rely on Batman to safe her like everyone else in Gotham. She had to stop being his sidekick and start being his partner, even if he refused to see her that way because she was his daughter.

"Get some rest, Dad," she spoke, kissing his forehead before she got up to go train.

_**I know this chapter is shorter but it shows the transition from childish, innocent Robin to the Robin who we see in Young Justice. After this, Robin will be 13 and up. I couldn't add 13 year old Robin onto this chapter without ruining the purpose behind it. R and R if you wish.**_


	5. Beginning

_**I don't like writing out the lines from the actual show, it seems redundant, so I scene-cut a lot. You get the picture if you've ever seen **__**the very first episodes of Young Justice**__** which I kinda hope you have. Sorry for the long wait but since I'm trying to sow my own story in with the show, it takes time, not to mention I have uni again. Which takes priority over this guilty pleasure. Over 6000 words though, can't complain there! R and R if you want, though I would like if you did.**_

Batman growled and whipped around, his cape lifting with the momentum. He had never run from an opponent but he was highly tempted to now. There seemed to be no escape, no way of not giving in to the demands. They had worked out his weakness and were exploiting it at every turn. Not facing them was doing little to save him for they were tricky and simply forced him to look at them.

"Dad, please!"

There they were again. Adorable blue. He really had to learn how to say no to Riley and her blue eyes. His feet begged him to run, as though they knew what was coming.

"Dad, please, please. We've been working _so_ hard. It's not like we're asking to _join!_ We just want to be allowed in the headquarters and to know what you all do. If we're all going to join one day then this could help to keep us safe. Please, Daddy."

There it was. Blue eyes, rational reasoning and the word Daddy. Three sure fire ways to get through his well build defences if that person is Riley Grayson.

Batman opened this mouth to reply and hesitated. "I... I'll talk to the others."

"YES!" Riley yelped, jumping and giving Batman a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The tall hero sighed after hugging his daughter back. "Suit up, we have patrol."

Riley nodded her head before spinning around and running off to get changed. She was back in minutes, her costume on, utility belt secure and her mask finally hiding the eyes that Batman could not say 'no' to. Their night was quiet, a handful of muggings, a group of men who were trying to abuse a woman, nothing major but they didn't get to bed until one in the morning. Robin was too tired to press the matter from earlier but Batman knew that if he didn't talk to the others in the Justice League about letting their sidekicks into the headquarters that he would be substigated to those torturous eyes.

Kid Flash, Robin, Aqua Lad, though to a lesser extent, and especially Roy had been pressuring their mentors to give them the opportunity to see the Justice League headquarters, and join, even if it wasn't on any real missions. He had to admit that Robin did have a valid argument, though that could have been the blue whirlpools. He really needed to learn to say no to her on matters like these before the other heroes realised Robin had the great Dark Knight wrapped around her little finger.

It wasn't as though she used it against him with everything, only the things she was most passionate about, and most other time she didn't even realise she was doing it. He had to admit, he was thankful she wasn't a super villain because he would lose against her.

It was two days before he was able to talk to Aquaman, Green Arrow and Flash. All of them had been hearing the same things from their sidekicks, but didn't think they were ready to join the Justice League. Batman didn't voice that he thought Robin was ready, but he wasn't. He couldn't handle the thought of her going up against what he did every day with the League. Now he knew how his and Black Canary's mentors felt.

Instead, the four heroes and Martian Manhunter, who had been contemplating inviting his niece, decided to only show them the basics in the Hall of Justice, which led to the zeta tubes, and not the actual headquarters. None of the sidekicks knew that that was not truly the headquarters, though Batman did worry that Robin would work it out once she took in account that civilians could see in and that there was only three chairs. Hopefully it would be enough to show them that they did trust them, they just wanted them to spend a little longer training.

With that decided, he returned home, only to find Riley not waiting for him in the Batcave. She tended not to wait if he was simply going to a meeting of the League. Instead, he found her in the lounge room, watching TV as she absently turned her charm bracelet. The eight charms chimed against one another, making a soft tune.

He had learnt that only the charms Kid Flash bought her actually ended up on the bracelet. It wasn't hard for him to calculate that she had one for every exhilarating mission the two had been on, in which she had came out unharmed. He noticed the injury clause by the fact that she did not have a charm for the last mission the two had together, in which the two Speedsters had to come to the Dynamic Duo's aid when Two Face had given them a beating. The two had arrived in time to see Robin take a hit and go flying into a wall. Kid Flash had caught her, only to find her unconscious.

That was part of reason Batman didn't want Riley to join the League. She still had a bruise on her cheek. He argued that she was to young, didn't have enough experience, to immature, but really, whilst she needed to learn how to work with a team instead of just him, she was capable of becoming a League member, he just knew she would be put into more dangerous situations and he couldn't be able to come to her aid, since he might not always know where she was.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey, dad, what's up?"

"We have decided to let you, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Speedy to see the League headquarters, so you know what you are working towards, but you can't join, yet."

Riley seemed to contemplate this for a minute before she nodded. "I can accept that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day had arrived and Robin seemed to be bouncing with anticipation, impatiently waiting as her father dressed. She sat in the chair in front of the computer, spinning around in an attempt to quell her anxiousness. She swore her father was dressing as slow as possible to annoy her, and it was working.

"Dad, if you don't hurry up, we are going to be late!" He voice hit a high note towards the end right before she heard her father's chuckled drifting from the changing room. She glared and whispered under her voice, "seriously?"

As she was contemplating yelling out to Batman to hurry up again, the computer started beeping. Hitting some buttons she got it to display the emergency. Freeze was in a park, causing havoc. Luckily, dealing with him was child's play with the location. He honestly didn't seem to have thought it through, though he was crazy.

"Dad, emergency." Instantly, Batman was beside her, making her scoff. "Now you dress quickly. Can we get this over and done with?"

They rushed down to the park, seeing some of Freeze's frozen victims. The two heroes looked at each other and silently communicated a plan. Batman sent a Bat-o-rang out to slam into the gun Freeze held before Robin sent out her signature laugh and jumped out, surprising the man. She landed heavily on his helmet, cracking it, before stringing away and throwing two bird-o-rangs at his face.

"Oh, Girl Wonder," he grumbled as he slowly lifted himself back onto his feet. "The Bat sent you to drag me off to prison. Frankly, I'm underwhelmed!"

"Great, but I'm kinda in a hurry here," Robin said, talking to Batman who was sneaking behind the villain.

Freeze scoffed. "Kids, always in such a rush. I prefer to preserve these moments." He pointed his freezing gun at Robin, who smirked as it powered up. "Or rather..."

"No talking to you," sung Robin, cutting off the man.

Freeze looked frightened before Batman jumped into the air, seeming to fly. The sun was half blocked by his form. He came down, throwing a punch straight through Freeze's helmet.

The thirteen-year-old gave him an exasperated look, tilting her head to the side. Her father simply smirked at her, making her narrow her eyes. They gave each other a quick stare down before Batman turned slightly; gesturing in the direction they had to go to get to the Hall. Robin shook her head before walking towards her father, giving him a mocking glare as she walked passed.

They got to the Hall of Justice just as Green Arrow, Speedy, Aquaman and Aqualad. Robin quickly gave Aqualad a high five and Speedy a hug, which made Batman frown. She had explained to him multiple times that Speedy was nothing more than an older brother. He reminded her of Dean from the circus. He was the son of one of the lion tamers and was training himself. He always told Robin bedtime stories when her parents were busy training or entertaining the crowd.

The crowd that had gathered kept calling out to them, making Robin wave. She noticed a group of little kids holding pictures of her. She smiled and walked over, crouching down so she was closer to their level. "Hi, are you superheroes in disguise too?"

The children giggled before boldly asking for her signature. She signed Robin, with a quick silhouette of a bird with its wings spread. The last one she signed belonged to a ten-year-old boy who was blushing as he handed over a picture of Robin. Most of them were the same, though this one was a little different. The others had been a still from a security camera from a mission not long ago. She was crouching, a night stick in each hand, whilst the one the boy handed her was of her just as she let go of her rope at the height of a swing. She was also ten in the picture, it was her battle with the Joker, minutes before they became overwhelmed and Batman was knocked unconscious.

"How did you get this?" Robin asked in confusion, smiling, a little flattered.

"I... I was there," he admitted, "I'm Billy Batson."

"Hi, Billy, I'm Robin." She shook his hand as he laughed.

"I wouldn't have guessed."

Robin handed back his picture, now signed 'Billy, I'm glad you're safe, Robin', and walked back to her father, facing the Hall. He put his hand on her shoulder, making her look up.

"Today is the day."

"Oh, man."

All the heroes looked over at the noise to notice the two speedsters had just arrived.

"I knew we would be the last ones here," whined Kid Flash, making Robin chuckle at the irony.

They all walked towards the Hall, listening to the crowd as they debated Kid Flash's name.

"Have all four sidekicks been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked, looking at how the crowd was behaving.

"Don't call as sidekicks," spoke up Speedy, "Not after today."

"Sorry." Kid Flash looked shocked at Speedy's tone. "First time at the Hall, I'm a little overwhelmed."

A thought crossed Robin's mind. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed." She gave a sigh and walked into the Hall with Kid Flash right behind her. She stopped as she spotted the ceiling to floor statues of all the heroes. "Maybe that's why." She was suddenly overwhelmed.

A door slid open and there stood Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado. It was Martian Manhunter that greeted them all in his deep, level voice. "Robin, Speedy, Auqalad, Kid Flash, you now have unlimited access to the gym, fully stocked galley and of course, the library."

They swivelled their necks around, looking at the library at its entirety. Robin's eyes lastly landed on the large computer and she instantly calculated her probability of hacking into its system and how long it may take her. She estimated that she should be able to in under a minute because if the Justice League had higher security then the Batcave, they would be using it.

"Make yourself at home," Flash stated, gesturing to the three chairs.

As Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad sat, Robin couldn't help but wonder why there were only three chairs and not more. She wanted to trust that her father hadn't lied though, so she said nothing and sat contently as Batman turned to the other seasoned heroes and talked about the four ice villains who had attacked. They turned towards a door, that the young girl thought might lead to the meeting room, as Speedy started talking in a sharp tone.

"That's it? You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified back stage pass."

"It's a first step," assured Aquaman. "You've been granted access few others have."

"Oh really?" the eldest teenager snapped, gesturing to a glass window high up on the wall were they could see civilians snapping photos of them all. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on!"

"Roy," Green Arrow spoke up in an understanding tone, "You just need to be patient."

Robin started putting the pieces together as Speedy talked about needing respect, and for all of them to not be treated like sidekicks. She could understand, since Batman didn't just treat her like a sidekick, but a little kid, since he was a protective father. Turning her eyes on the Dark Knight, she saw him fidgeting, so minuet that only she noticed. He was hiding the truth from her, like Speedy said, and was feeling guilty.

"We deserve better than this."

Speedy's words snapped Robin out of her thoughts, making her look at him, only to see him looking at the protégés. They all then looked at each other. It was obvious that Aqualad wanted to serve his King, and Kid Flash was slightly confused, she however, was conflicted, but hid it. She wanted the truth, but didn't want to go against her father. She understood that he had his reasons and just wanted to protect her.

"You're kidding, right?" spat the young archer, glaring at them. "You're playing their game. Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was meant to be _the_ day! Step one on becoming full-fledged members of the league."

"Well sure," Kid Flash started, looking at Robin for reassurance, "but I thought step one was a tour of HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the real HQ." That got all of their attention, Robin knowing she was about to get answers. "I bet they never told you it's a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zetabeam tubes to the real thing," he gestured to the roof, "An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Green Arrow had the dignity to look guilty as he turned to look at Batman, who crossed his arms. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception." He only received a cold stare in return. "Or not."

"You're not helping your cause here, son," voiced Aquaman, trying to speak reason. "Stand down."

"Or what?" started Speedy, seeming to be angrier by those words. "You'll send me to my room? I'm not your son. I'm not even his." He gestured to Green Arrow, who tried to hide his pain. "I thought I was his partner, but, not anymore." He took off his hat and threw it to the ground, turning to walk out but stopping to spit words at Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. "Guess their right about you three. You're not ready!"

They watched him leave, Robin feeling hurt that she had yet again lost another person in her life, before Superman appeared on the screen. A metal screen silently slid down over the observation window, stopping the tourists from seeing in. They listened to him talk about an explosion in something called Cadmus before Zatara interrupted, calling for the whole League. Once it was settled that they had to deal with Zatara's mission, Batman turned to the three teenagers.

"Stay put."

"Why?" Robin asked, knowing her father knew she meant, not just this mission but not seeing the headquarters. He gave her a look that clearly said they would talk later.

"This is a League mission," Aquaman tried to explain.

"You're not trained," added Flash.

Kid Flash's mouth dropped open in shock. "Since when?"

"I meant you're not trained as a part of this team," clarified the speedster.

Aquaman gave them all a sympathetic smile. "There will be other missions, when you're ready."

Those words made Robin feel like a rooky hero again and her father's didn't help.

"But until then, stay put!" With that, he turned towards the second door, which revealed the zeta tube. They were all scanned and walked through one by one, Red Tornado stopping to silently look at them first.

"When we're ready?" Kid Flash started, starting to pace.

"My mentor, my king," started Aqualad in a dejected voice. "I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't trust us with the basics. Like that they have a secret HQ _in space_." Kid Flash gestured to the ceiling in an angry manner.

"What else aren't they telling us?"

Robin could understand his frustration. She was having trouble understand why her father lied to her. He could have told her the truth, explained it to her. "I have a better question: why didn't we leave with Speedy?" she spat out bitterly, knowing she only half meant it. She could never completely leave her father, and her friends like Speedy did.

"What is project Cadmus?" the Atlantican asked slowly.

A smirk creaked onto Robin's face before she answered. "Don't know, but I can find out." She walked over to the computer, getting to see how long it would take to hack. She tried the simple method of through the front door, only to be denied. "Wanna bet." Using the skills her father dearly wished on occasions that she did not posses, she hacked into the system within seconds, making system details scroll down the screen as small Robin heads appeared, telling her when she had broken through firewalls.

"Wow, how are you doing that?" the speedster asked slowly from beside her.

"Access granted," the computer spoke in a female voice.

Robin laughed. "Same system as the Batcave." She started scrolling for the information, relaying it to the others. It didn't seem to take much for Aqualad to suggest poetic justice. It took Robin a bit more pressing before he seemed to give in to the idea of going

"Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Cause if you're going, I'm going!" Kid Flash asked, spinning Robin around to face him.

It was as easy as that for them to decide to become a team. They quick headed to DC, to the location the Justice Leagues computer had said Cadmus was. Getting in was easy, once Robin had pulled Kid Flash into the window. They hacked into the computers, finding nothing suspicious until they found the elevator.

What was under the building had been nothing like they expected. Creatures of all sizes that should not exist, build to be weapons, as well as Guardian, a hero, who had tried to harm them; nothing though, compared to what they found in Kr.

The moment Kid Flash had told them to look, they could not do anything but. They were so shocked, having not expected Kr to be a boy, let alone what he was. The moment the lights had went on, the wheels in all their heads began turning.

"Kr, big K, little R, atomic sign for krypton," Kid Flash exclaimed, turning to Robin and Aqualad. "Clone?"

"Robin," Aqualad started, turning to the young girl who was gaping in surprise. "Hack."

"Oh, right, right." Robin instantly gained access into the computer. "Weapon designated Superboy, a clone force grown in _six months! _From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," hissed Aqaulad.

"There's no way the big guy knows about this!" Kid Flash looked at the other two for conformation.

"Solar suit can exhaurb yellow sun radiation 24/7," read out Robin.

"And these creatures?"

"Genomorths Knomes, telepathic, force feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else," added the redhead. "Their making a slave out of... accentually Superman's son."

"Now we contact league," reasoned Aqualad, looking at Robin.

She tried, only to hear static. "No signal."

Kid Flash sighed softly. "We're in too deep, literally." He turned his gaze onto Superboy, who seemed to be sleeping in his pod. "This is wrong."

"We can't leave him like this," agreed Robin, looking sadly at the dark haired clone.

"Set him free." Aqualad looked at Robin when she hesitated and narrowed his eyes. "Do it."

With a hit of a small number of buttons, the glass raised up to allow him out. He cracked his neck before opening his eyes, showing them the same light blue as Superman's. He then pounced.

"Wow, hang on, supey," tried to reason Kid Flash after they had failed to defend themselves.

"We're on your side," Robin promised with difficulty.

He didn't stop. He just kept throwing them about and blocking their attacks. Everything they did seemed to be useless. There was no way to get him down.

Aqualad tried one last time to get through to the clone as the end of the fight obvious end. "We are trying to help you."

Shortly after those words, all three lost consciousness, only to wake up in pods of their own. The Girl Wonder had a horrible feeling about what was to happen to them. They had woken to find Superboy staring at them. Not in a questioning way, or even a curious way, simply staring. This seemed to annoy Kid Flash, who was in the middle pod.

What?! What do you want?" He fought against the locks holding him. "Stop staring! Your freaking me out!

"KF," Robin reasoned, "how about we don't tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" She sensed more then saw out of her peripherals that her words calmed Kid Flash a little.

"We only sort to help you," explained Aqualad.

"Yeah, we freed you and you turned on us," started the red head again.

"Kid, please be quiet now," urged the sea dweller. "I believe our new friend wasn't in full control of his actions."

Superboy frowned before opening his mouth. "What... what if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" exclaimed Kid Flash in shock.

Superboy glared at him "Yes,_ he_ can!"

Both Aqualad and Robin gave Kid Flash exasperated looks, making him shrug the best he could in his restraints. "It's not like I said it!"

"The genomorphs taught you, telepathically," guessed Aqualad, seeming to have the most luck getting through to the clone.

"They taught me much. I can read, write, I know the name of stuff."

"Have you seen them? Have they ever let you see them?" Robin asked in a soft voice, a wave of sorrow for him washing over her. To live a life in nothing but a pod was not really living in her opinion. "Have they ever let you see the sky? The sun?"

"Images are implanted in my mind, but no I have never seen them," admitted the strong boy.

"Do you know what you are? Who you are?" questioned Aqualad, wanting to see what Cadmus was willing to tell him.

"I am the Superboy, a genomorph a clone of the Superman, to replace him if he perishes, and to destroy him if he turns from the light," he recited as though he had it memorised.

To be like superman is a worthy cause," complemented Aqualad, seeming perfectly calm even though he was tied up, "but like superman you deserve a life of your own, beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod this, beyond Cadmus."

"I live because of Cadmus, it is my home," Superboy yelled.

"Your home is a test tube," reminded the only girl in the room. "We can show you the sun."

"Arr, I'm pretty sure it's after midnight," interjected Kid Flash, making Robin glare at him, "but we can show you the moon."

"We can show you, introduce you, to superman," tempted Aqaulad.

"No, they can't, they will be otherwise occupied," cut in a man with long brown hair. "Start the cloning process."

Those words shot fear through Robin's system, but she hit it well with a joke. "Pass, batcave's crowded enough."

The man chose to ignore her. "And get the weapon back in its pod."

"Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?" complained Kid Flash.

"Help us," pleaded Aqualad to Superboy as someone started to lead him out of the room.

"Don't start thinking now!" snapped the scientist. "See you're not a real boy, you belong to me, well Cadmus, same thing. Now get back in your pod."

As Superboy walked away from them what looked to be metal fingers came out and attached themselves to each of their chests, shooting electricity through their systems. Robin was blinded by pain, her attempts to unlock her handcuffs forgotten as she tried to hold in her screams of agony. Her effort was lost though, for eventually they slipped through her lips.

She didn't know how long it lasted but the moment the pain lifted she focused on unlocking the restraints, knowing she needed to get out as soon as she could. She only half listened to Kid Flash and Superboy talk about heat vision before the glass of the pod opened, just seconds before her cuffs clicked open.

She landed in a crouch, rubbing her wrists. "Arr, good thing Batman isn't here, he'd have my head for taking so long."

"Seriously, that's what your worried about? The whole league will have our heads after tonight," Kid Flash exclaimed in shock, fighting against his cuffs.

"Free Aqualad, I'll get Kid Mouth," Robin spoke, half glaring at her friend.

"Don't you give me orders either," growled Superboy before he jumped towards Aqualad.

She rolled her eyes and climbed up above her best friend's pod, unlocking him quickly since she could see what she was doing.

"You'll never get out of here, I'll have you back in pods by morning," threatened the man who tried to clone them.

"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all." Robin shock her head as though it was a great sin.

"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" Kid Flash asked, only half wanting an answer.

They made a run for it, trying to get to the elevator. When they did, Robin quickly hooked a rope up as far as she could, letting Kid Flash slip his hand into hers. Holding onto him tightly, she retracked the rope once Superboy had grabbed Aqualad and flown off. The two started rising at a fast rate. Luckly she was still able to notice when Superboy started calling, throwing an arrow into the wall for Aqualad to grab.

"Superman can fly, why can't I fly?" the dark haired boy asked dejectedly.

"Don't know, but it looks like you can lead tall buildings. Still cool," Kid Flash assured, trying to cheer him up.

They ran through the floors, following Superboy's directions, only for him to lead them to what looked like a deadend. Once they had followed Robin's instructions, they crowled through the airvents to another floor where they dropped out. Instantly Robin was on her computer.

"What are you doing?" Kid Flash asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I hacked the motion sensors," Robin cheered, obviously proud of herself.

"Sweet," Kid Flash agreed, giving her a grateful smile. Not only did it give them an advantage it also gave him room to run, which is exactly what he did. He left a train of unconscious behind him as he ran through the stairwell, clearly the path for the others.

It wasn't until sublevel one that they found trouble. There was an entire army of Genomorphs as well as Guardian. Robin's head became fuzzy and she fell to the floor. Moments later though, they were all back on their feet and told to run by Guardian. Before they could, the elevator opened and the scientist was back with a test tube. He drunk the liquid inside and started changing. His flesh seemed to rip away from him, exposing greenish gray muscles underneath. Robin gulped at the atrocious sight before all four teens started fighting.

Even with Superboy's strength they seemed to be no match for this monster. They threw everything they had at him and yet it seemed to do nothing. Then robin gained an idea. Quickly, she set about putting it into motion. When the roof finally caved they all ducked, Superboy pushing them all together so he could shield them. In all the commotion, robin didn't notice a hand slip into hers, holding it tight as though afraid hers would suddenly turn limp.

Once everything had calmed the hand disappeared and Superboy lifted the largest piece of rubble off of them all, leaving them to move the 'smaller' bits. They gasped, drinking in the fresh night air that had the hint of debris in it.

"We did it," exclaimed Aqualad, sounding shocked.

"Was there any ever doubt?" teased Kid Flash before he highfived Robin, making both of them wince and hold their sides.

Robin was not looking forward to when Batman found out. He hated her getting injured, especially it he couldn't beat the guy up who did it.

Kid Flash grinned at her and helped her to her feet before nudging her arm and looking at Superboy. "Look, the moon." As they looked up at the abnormally large orb, a shadow slowly appeared before they could all make it out. "Wow and superman. Do we keep our promises or what?"

Slowly, the whole league arrived, landing on the mess they made and surrounding them. Superboy calmly, almost eagerly, like a child showing his artwork to his father, walked up to his older counterpart and lifter up the torn part of his solar suite. Superman's face showed his displeasure as Batman looked shocked.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"He doesn't like being called an it," sung Kid Flash, coming up beside the clone.

"I'm Superman's clone," snapped Superboy.

Batman frowned, looking at the four, his eyes lingering on Robin, though only she could tell. "Start talking!"

They explained the best they could, giving them all the details before the adults dispersed into separate groups. Robin fought the desire to go to sleep since she had been on patrol until three the morning before and had slept very little in anticipation of being shown around the Justice League Headquarters. She was regretting that now. The only thing keeping her standing was Kid Flash's hand on her shoulder. Finally, her father came up to her, making her think about how much she wanted to go home, have a shower and get a protective hug off of her father. The only one she knew who could hug as well as him was Wally, but his were different, not the fatherly kind.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels," Batman assured, "but let's get one thing clear..."

"You should have called!" cut in Flash, making Robin try not to laugh. They may not have been related but Barry and Wally were very similar.

"End results aside," Batman continued, clearly trying not to glare at the speedster, "We are not happy. You hacked justice league systems, disobeyed orders and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again!"

"I am sorry," started Aqualad in his deep, calm voice, "but we will."

"Aqaulad stand down," Aquaman ordered, frowning at his once loyal servant.

"Apologies, my king, but no. We did good work tonight, work you trained us to do, together, on our own, we fought something powerful, important."

"If this is about your treatment at the hall, the three of you..." the Flash started, looking guilty.

"The four of us," interjected his protégé, "and it's not."

Robin turned a tired version of the puppy dog eyes on her father, knowing its effects wouldn't be a strong with the mask on. Her voice was soft, not wanting her father to be mad or hurt. "Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us, or why teach us at all?"

"Why let them tell us what to do?" snapped Superboy, his arms folded. "It's simple, get on board or get out of the way."

The adults shared a look, realising it was a lost cause. They slowly nodded before the Flash suggested taking them to his house to be checked out. The moment the four, as well as Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Black Canary got to the Allen house they set to work. The first thing Robin did was walk into the bedroom Wally used when there and laid down gingerly on the bed. She closed her eyes and started to dose, not even opening them when someone entered the room.

"Keep your eyes closed," Kid Flash instructed.

"Okay," the young girl assured in a drowsy voice before the sound of rustling clothing could be heard. "Are you getting changed?"

"Yes. That's why I said keep your eyes closed. I didn't want you have to move, you look tired."

She nodded, her eyes still closed. "Tired and sore."

The bed dipped besides her, making her roll slightly towards that area. "I know. When I heard you screaming I wanted to rip that guy's head off. I don't like you being hurt."

"It was worth it. We got a new friend, and some respect," she mumbled, groping around for a pillow, her eyes still closed since she was too tired to open them. All she found was Wally's chest, which she decided to use. He didn't complain when she put her head on his chest, making sure to be careful of any injuries. They both knew they should go out into the living room where Aqualad and Superboy were being treated for injuries, but both were too tired to move.

"Nothing's worth you being hurt," Wally muttered, looking down at Robin, who was more then likely asleep. With a yawn, he, too, fell into a slumber.

"Alright, you two are fine, you should heal within a day or two," Black Canary assured, smiling at Superboy who seemed to be a bit socially awkward.

"Superboy, if you want, you can stay here until we work out where your teams headquarters can be," offered Barry, who had changed out of his uniform. He had already asked Iris if it was alright for the clone to stay. When he received a nod, he smiled. "I can also make you something to eat, if any of you are hungry."

"You should look at Wally and Robin," spoke Aqualad from his seat on the couch. "They took a lot of hits."

"Where are they?" asked Aquaman before realising his mistake.

All the heroes looked at Batman. Although he had his cowl up, it was obvious he had just stepped into father mode. He frowned and started walking out of the living room, towards the spare room. He threw open the door only to stop. There had been a number of things running through his head, since Robin was injured, but what he saw calmed him.

She was curled up asleep on the bed with Wally protectively holding her to him in his sleep. Batman knew he never had to worry about her when she was with him, which was perhaps the only reason he was letting Robin onto this team of teenage heroes. He allowed a small smile that he quickly masked as Barry, Black Canary and Aqualad came over to the room.

Upon seeing them both sleeping soundly, Barry sighed. He had had the two stay over enough that he was used to them sleeping on the same bed together, since they often fell asleep playing videogames. Black Canary, however, gave a small gushing noise and muttered something about 'such sweet friends'. Aqualad just frowned in confusion, never having seen them like that.

"Should we wake them?" Barry asked, looking at the Dark Knight who was gazing at his daughter.

"No," Batman finally answered. "I'll take Robin home. Agent A can look over her in the morning. I think she needs sleep at the moment." With that, he walking into the room and scooped her up into his arms. She turned into him, cuddling into his chest.

Whilst she didn't wake, Wally did. He jumped awake with a gasp and looked around for Robin. He held his side in pain as he looked at Batman as he cradled his daughter.

"She doesn't wake up, but he does," chuckled Barry. "Don't worry, kid, his just taking her home."

Wally nodded and dropped back onto the matrices before he patted his stomach. "I'm hungry." He lifted himself off the bed and followed Batman out of the room, flopping down onto the couch with a wince. "Oh, tell Robin she's not getting a charm for this mission," Wally told Batman in a sleepy voice, getting a confused frown from the man. "I told her she doesn't get a charm if she gets hurt."

Batman gave Barry a confused look, only getting a shrug in reply. Instead of dwelling on it, he turned and carried her out into the Batmobil he had hidden outside.


	6. Schooled

The only sounds that one could hear in the West house were two voices giving short shouts of glee or exasperation. This was not an unordinary occurrence. At least every two weeks the house would be empty save for two teenagers. One was a red head, older than the other but far less mature, whilst the other was dark haired girl. The girl was currently giving the most shouts of glee.

"You are going down, Wallflower!"

"That's only because you're using cheats," Wally retorted, before he started nudging her with his shoulder, trying to throw her off the fight.

Instead, she turned her back to him and pushed up with her legs until he fell back and she was sitting on his stomach.

"Get off me!"

"Why? You can still hold a remote." She hit a combination of buttons and tried not to laugh when her character performed one of its special combos on Wally's, taking a large portion of his health.

"Yes, but I can barely see." Wally tried to push Robin up by grabbing her waist, but once she was up to a certain height, his hand slipped to her bottom, making him move his hands quickly. She landed heavily back on his stomach, making an 'ohh' escape from his mouth.

Robin just laughed at his pain. "Do that again and I may have to tell dad."

"Do you want me dead?" Wally yelped.

"Yep, that's why I'm gonna do this!" she hit a button and next minute K.O. appeared on the screen in large red letters, making Robin laugh. "I kicked your butt."

"I suppose you deserve a prize," Wally started with a smirk, sitting up when Robin got off of him and sneaking his hand up and under the mattress of his bed, which was behind them.

"Yes, yes I do. Cookie dough is my customary payment, thank you." Robin looked expectantly at Wally before he removed his hand from under his mattress.

"How about this?" He held the little box out to Robin, watching as a small smile spread across her face. There was no doubt she knew what it was, but Wally seemed to always surprise her with the shape. On a mission, where he and Flash had helped Batman and Robin when they versed the Joker, Robin had expected a clown as the charm, but had instead received a star with a light blue stone in the middle. She had failed to remember that at the end of the mission they had walked outside and she had commented that the stars looked like little, light blue diamonds. He, of course, couldn't afford diamonds, so she had to settle for glass, though she didn't seem to mind at all.

When she opened the box she gave a laugh, seeing the cobra shaped charm sitting on the cushion. "For the cobra venom?" she guessed.

"You did hack the system so we could find out about it," he remarked, removing the charm from the box as Robin held out her hand, allowing him to attach it. She never did bother to learn how to put them on, since Wally always did it for her.

Robin leant forward, hugging Wally and kissing his cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Robin." The red head hugged her back. "But why do you kiss my cheek?"

"Tradition. My family always kissed people's cheeks when we received gifts. It was just something we did."

"Like speaking Romani?" Wally asked, getting a nod from Robin. "I can't imagine Batman kissing people's cheeks when they gave him gifts."

"It's not his tradition, but he kisses me when I give him gifts."

"But you said your family." The speedster surveyed Robin's face as she looked down. "Robin, I'm not stupid. I know your mother isn't the only parent you've lost. Close to the anniversary of her death you cry in your sleep for your mum and dad, but you call him Tati. I looked it up. It's Romani for father." When Robin didn't say anything Wally put a hand on her shoulder. "Robin..."

"Riley."

"What?"

"Riley." The girl sighed, looking up at her friend. "My name is Riley Grayson-Wayne."

Wally was in a state of shock. He had been trying to get Robin's name out of her for years, but finally she admitted it. Slowly he let the name roll over his mind before he realised something. "That sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?"

"You might have heard of the murder of two out of three of the Flying Graysons, an acrobatic family that was in Haly's International Travelling Circus. They were my parents. We used to be famous, we could do tricks that others couldn't dream of, like the quadruple summersault, no nets, ever. My mum used to call me Robin, cause she said I flew like a Robin. I could trust them to always catch me, no matter what. There was a mob boss that wanted to take over the circus cause it was doing so well. Hal refused and the mob boss decided to take away the star act. It was only a handful of seconds before I was meant to jump out. Dad was at the show when it happened and took me in, kept me safe. He knew I had seen the man who did it, putting me in danger. He wanted to train me to get justice on the man... I don't think he intended to start seeing me like a daughter." Robin swallowed, her throat constricted. "But I'm thankful, his my Daddy."

The red head pulled Riley into his arms, holding him close. He knew she didn't like telling the story, but he was thankful. He was also thankful that he now knew her name. Riley had once told him that she thought he wouldn't like her anymore. That would never happen, he had to look after her.

"Wayne," Wally said slowing. "You're the heiress, Bryce Wayne's adopted daughter. My aunt interviewed your dad and you last year."

"Yeah, I know. I found it funny cause she knew who we were. Flash too." Robin laughed at Wally's expression.

"THEY KNOW!"

"Since the first time I slept over. Flash heard me speaking in Romani in my sleep and knew dad didn't know the language, so he questioned him. Dad told him who we were but made him swear not to say anything. Your aunt overheard when she was walking to the bathroom."

"They are dead."

Robin looked at Wally's angry face before putting a hand on his. "Aren't you glad I told you? I would have told you sooner but I don't really like talking about why I go adopted. Not to mention dad would not be happy. But I trust you."

The speedster finally calmed down and looked at his friend, noticing the pain on her face. He quickly drew her into his arms. "Thank you, for trusting me so much, and I'm sorry I pried. I promise not to tell anyone, no matter what."

"It's fine. I'll just kill you again."

"Not if I kill you first!"

The two friends drew apart and picked up their remotes, started a new game. Once again their shouts and exclamation of glee and frustration filled the air.

"I hate him! Simple as that! There is no way I could like him."

"So you dislike him?"

"Well... no, I don't dislike him."

"So you like him?"

"I DON'T LIKE HIM!"

"So you do dislike him?"

"No, I don't dislike him."

"But you hate him."

"Yes."

The dark haired girl groaned loudly and threw her hands up to cover her face not moving from her lying position. "Arrr, you're melting my brain with your girliness."

"I am not, you're being over dramatic," scoffed the red head.

Riley uncovered her face and flipped onto her stomach to stare at her friend. "Barbs, you can't not like someone, not dislike someone, but hate them!"

"Yes you can, because I do," reasoned Barbara as though it made perfect sense.

The heir to the Wayne fortune stared at her friend for a moment before speaking. "I have decided you're either crazy and need to be heavily medicated or have a giant crush on this guy."

"I do NOT have a crush on Patrick!"

"Then you need to be medicated."

The sound of the back door slinging shut made both girls look over. Walking towards them was a boy only two years their senior. He smiled as he drew closer. "You know a trampoline is for jumping, right? Not gossiping and lying on."

"We're not gossiping," yelped Barbara.

"She's right. I'm trying to work out what medication would be best for her. What do you think, Bradley?"

The blond boy surveyed his sister before turning to the other girl. "Not sure, but you may need a straight jacket too."

"You have a point there." Riley nodded her head as though it made sense.

"Don't team up. That's unfair."

"Don't worry, little sis," started Bradley. "I have to take dad a clean shirt down at the station, he spilt coffee on his, so I can't stay here to torment you."

"Oh, and we had such glorious plans too," sighed Riley, dropping her chin onto her hands as though it was a great loose.

Bradley laughed as he started to walk away. "Bye, Barbs, bye Riley."

"See ya," both girls replied.

"So, speaking of boys," Barbara started the moment her brother was out of earshot. "What is with you and that friend of yours?"

"Which one?" Riley frowned, having no clue if she meant Dean, who she had been talking to on the phone yesterday or one of the boys at school she was friends with.

"The one you spend so much time with, and couldn't meet me until eleven cause you stayed at his house." Barbara grinned widely as though she had something to make Riley squirm with.

"You mean Wally?" The dark haired girl couldn't think of anyone else, since she had slept at Wally's house last night after playing video games all day. "We're friends."

"Sure," Barbara said in a voice that clearly showed she didn't believe her. She was easily distracted though by Riley's charm bracelet. "What's that charm? Is it new? I haven't seen Robin with it." She touched the cobra charm that had been sitting on top of Riley's wrist.

"Oh, she was seen with it last night. Jewellers are going crazy making knockoffs. My dad got the first one made." The lie rolled off of Riley's tongue so naturally, since she had said simpler ones many times before. Shortly after getting the bracelet, people had seen her wearing it and had taken to making copies. The copies were nowhere near as good as hers, since no one was able to get a clear look at the charms and each of her charms was hand made by Wally's mother, who was a jeweller.

"Should have guessed," sighed Barbara, rolling her eyes. "Must be nice, having a father who goes to such lengths to spoil you."

"Barbs," Riley started.

"Riley, I'm not jealous," assured the red head with a large smile. "You get me awesome presents on my birthday."

The dark haired girl had to snort at this just before her phone rang. Quickly, she checked the ID, seeing it was her dad. Answering it, she put it to her ear. "Hello."

"_Hi, Dinah wants to talk to you and the others. You should head over_," her father instructed, using cryptic talk encase someone could over hear their conversation on her end.

"Alright. Tell them I'll be there soon. Bye, Daddy."

"_Bye, Riley_."

Riley hung up and turned over, sitting up on the trampoline. "I have to go. You can keep spinning conspiracy theories about Wally and I but there's nothing there."

"See ya, Riley. Call me later."

With a wave good bye, Riley ran out of her friend's back yard, using the gate. She called Alfred as she walked to the manor, knowing he would pick her up on her way. If she had stayed at Barbara's she risked being questioned. Within no time she was getting into the back of one of her father's cars that was being driven by Alfred.

"Thanks."

"Any time, Miss Riley," assured the butler. "Now, let's get you home so you can change."

She changed as fast as she could, shaking her hair numerous times to try to get it back to its naturally messy look after straightening before going through the zetatubes. Riley Grayson was believed to have naturally straight hair, which she sometimes curled, but never messy, that was Robin. When she arrived, she found she was on time, for instead of sparing, they were playing air hockey, and Superboy was nowhere to be found. Realising that they couldn't start until Superboy and Black Canary were there, Robin decided to watch their match.

"Hey, guys," she said, scrunching at her hair some more to try and make it loose it's straightness. No one looked at her strangely, for it seemed similar to her habit of ruffling her hair.

After receiving greetings in return, she settled with watching Aqualad and Kid Flash play air hockey. It wasn't long before Superboy come stomping out of the zetatubes, clearly in a bad mood. He walked straight through the air hockey table, making the computer animated form disappear, not caring if anyone was still playing.

"Hi, Superboy, how was Metropolis?" M'gann asked in a chipper voice, clearly trying to brighten the clone's mood.

They looked at the main entrance into the room besides the zetatubes when someone cleared their throat. In walked Martian Manhunter and Black Canary.

"Ready for training everyone?" Black Canary asked before the two martians exchanged greetings. The blonde noticed Superboy turn away from the family affection and start to walk out of the room. "Stick around," she said, though it was clearly an order. "Class is in session." She walked into the middle of the room, the computer brightening the floor with white light. "I consider it an honour to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I learnt from my mentors," she grimaced as she removed her jacket, revealing a bandage on her arm, "and my own bruises."

"What happened?" M'gann asked in concern.

"The job," Black Canary explained shortly, making Robin nod her head in agreement.

The Girl Wonder knew exactly how it felt to have bruises riddling the body, and the scolding that came with it when her father found out.

"Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms," Black Canary started, repeating what Batman had told Robin many timed before. "You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner."

"Right here," Kid Flash volunteered, raising his hand whilst he talked with banana in his mouth. He walked forward, onto the fighting area. "After this, I'll show you some of my moves." He threw the banana peel into the bin.

Black Canary smirked. She threw a punch which Kid Flash blocked before she crouched and swung a leg out, knocking the red head onto his back.

As the speedster groaned the floor came up with a sign saying 'Fail: Kid Flash', Robin chuckle under her breath.

"Hurts so good," Kid Flash said in a strained voice.

"Good block but did anyone see what he did wrong?" asked their trainer as her sparring partner raised to his feet.

Instantly Robin's hand was in the air as she bounced. "Ooo, ooo. He hit on teacher and got served?"

"Dude!" yelped her best friend.

Black Canary smiled with amusement before talking. "He allows me to dictate the terms of..."

"Oh, please," snapped Superboy, glaring at the blonde. "With my powers, the battle's always on my terms. I'm a living weapon. And this is a waste of my time."

Instantly Robin knew Superboy would be shown otherwise. She had seen Batman and Black Canary both take down people as strong as Superboy, if not more so, with very little effort. One needed to know how to fight, otherwise their strength was just for show.

"Prove it," challenged the Justice league member.

Superboy lowered his brow in a challenging manner before stepping forward, into the training ground, Kid Flash wisely stepping back to the others. He and Black Canary stared each other down before stepping back into fighting stances. Superboy swung, only to have Black Canary sidestep, grabbing his arm and flipping him onto his back. The floor lit up to declare his failure.

Robin pointed at him, laughing. She couldn't help it, seeing as Black Canary didn't even try. Aqualad elbowed her in the ribs, making her cover her mouth to try and hide the fact that she was laughing at the super clone.

with a soft groan and a heavy frown, Super boy got to his feet, glaring the blonde superhero down.

"You're angry, good," started Black Canary, "But don't react. Channel that anger..."

Before she could finish talking, Super boy charged at her, clearly not taking her advise. He clenched his fist, winding it back to strike at her hard. Robin knew exactly what the older woman would do, since she herself would do the same thing. Her prediction was correct when she flipped over Super boy, crouching behind him and swinging her leg out, taking his legs out from under him. Superboy's blind rage had prevented him from seeing the large gaps in his attack. He landed painfully on his back, the floor yet again lighting up.

Again, Robin covered her mouth to hide her chuckles as M'Gann worried for the clone's safety.

Angryly, Superboy rose to his feet. "That's it, I'm done." He pushed away Black Canary's helping hand.

"Training is manditory," she reminded, a calming hand on Superboy's shoulder, only to have it thrown off.

Superboy never had a chance to retort, however, for their communication screen lit up and Batman appeared. "Batman to the cave. Five hours ago a new meanise attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary." A picture appeared of a man with short orange hair, red eyes and elf ears. "The attacker was capable of studying then duplicating the power and abilities of his opponents." They watched as Superman was swung around by his arm, knocking way the other heroes that were trying to get closer. Arrow called in reinforcements which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combattent."

Robin stood in shock, her head starting to race. She knew her father would not be asking them to go verse this man is it so easily threw league members around, but it was still frightening to think something like that existed.

"Wow, one guy with the powers of the entire league," stated Kid Flash, saying what everyone else couldn't seem to verbalise.

"In the end, it took eight leaguers, four hours to defeat nt dismantle the android," Batman admitted.

"An android? But who made it?" questioned Robin, her mind reeling. "Teomaro?"

"Good guess, Robin," praised Batman, "but Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bares the signifies of Professor Ivo," explained Martian Manhunter.

Aqualad looked at him in shock. "Ivo? But Ivo's dead."

Back Canary looked at the Atlantian over her shoulder, hands in her hips. "That's what we thought, or hoped."

"To make certain this threat is perminantly neutralised, we have to trucks sending the androids parts to two delegate Star Lab facilities in Boston and New York for imidiant evaluation. Every precortion is being taken. We will have four editional decoy trucks encase Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into toe undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes," Kid Flash cheered, making everyone look at him. "Road trip!"

Robin tried not to laugh, though she could understand where Kid Flash's excitement came from.

"So now we take out your trash," snapped Superboy, making Robin roll her eyes behind her mask.

"You had something better to do?" Batman retorted, barely turning on the batglare but still looking intimidating.

Super boy looked away as the information was sent to Aqualad's hand held devise. "Co ordinance received, on our way."

They all took that as their queue to go get ready, Robin rushimg passed Super boy who seemed to want to take his time. Robin looked over at Kid Flash as they left the training room. "This is going to be good."

"I know! Road trips are always awesome, but the league is trusting us with this powerful weapon... even is it is in pieces."

"Pieces or not, trust is trust," reminded Robin, making Kid Flash smile wider.

The information Aqualad received said that they were to dress in civilian clothing two as not to be conspicuous. They all knew that meant putting civilian clothing over the top of their costumes encase they needed to change. Once changed, they took their bikes to the location of the trucks. A handful of the Justice League were already there waiting for them.

"Alright, Superboy and Robin will be going with this truck, heading to Boston, whilst Miss Martian, Aqualad and Kid Flash will be going with this truck to New York," instructed Batman, pointing at each truck in turn as the other leaguers debriefed the drivers.

Robin noticed the meaningful look her father sent her when saying she was paired with Superboy. The clone probably assumed it was so he could keep Robin safe, but Robin knew it was so she could keep him safe. He may have had the strength, but she had the skill, and if anyone could make a plan around his rash behavior, it was her.

They confirmed that they understood, then proceeded to wait for the cargo to be loaded onto the trucks. They were given confirmation that everything was ready and then they were allowed to go. Three trucks headed in one direction as the other three trucks headed in the other, superheroes training behind both lots.

After a few minutes the three trucks Robin and Superboy were following broke off, leaving them to only follow the real truck and not the decoys. It was then that Robin decided to break the tension with a question that had been bothering her since her talk with Barbara.

"If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster?" She looked over at Superboy only to find him not seeming to care, thinking he may be confused, she elaborated. "See, instead of things are going wrong, they go right." She still received no reaction. "Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?"

"Canary," Superboy snapped. "What business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig," explained Robin in a calm voice. "Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman... and, well... me."

The clone did not seem to like that answer and sped ahead. Robin sighed and caught up to him, figuring that if he was already mad then it didn't hurt to give him some advise. "Superboy, learning how to use your super strength doesn't make you weak, it will make you stronger." She simply received a glare for her trouble, though she could see the wheels turning in his head. She knew he could see the sense in her words, though he was being too stubborn to admit it.

Before Robin could say more, Robotic monkeys jumped out of the corn field beside them and started attacking the truck. "How Wizard of Oz," she muttered before she got a communication from Aqualad.

"Robin, Superboy, our truck is under attack."

"Kinda figured," Robin joked, looking at the dozen that clung to their truck.

"I hate monkeys," growled Superboy, glaring at the mechanical primates.

It was moments like that that Robin was glad Superboy didn't have heat vision, for a lot of things seem to make him glare, including herself.

The monkeys surprised the driver, making him swerve over the road.

"Robot monkeys," Robin laughed, "Totally Ivo's tweaked style." She pressed a button on the console in front of her, putting her bike into battle mode and releasing a small, aerial devise to help them fight. "Hey," she said to Superboy, trying to get his attention. "Hey, switch your ride to Battle Mode."

"No point," the male growled, jumping off his bike and onto the truck.

"Or not," muttered Robin before jumping off her own, narrowly missing Superboy's bike that took out her own. She connected a grappling hook to the truck, swinging over. The moment she landed she kicked one of the monkeys off and started dealing with the others. There was only so much she could do whilst holding onto the back of a moving vehicle though. She could tell by the amount of monkeys flying off the roof that Superboy was fighting the ones up there, which was something. She kicked one off into two others that were flying closer, her aerial devise shooting another, only to be taken out by the monkeys.

As Robin was trying to climb onto the top of the truck to where Superboy was, she spotted him being lifted away by three of the monkeys. They then dropped him painfully onto the road. Robin winced, imagining how much that must have hurt. She didn't have enough time to see if he got up for she had to deal with the monkeys as the truck sped away from her friend. She destroyed one last monkey on the back of the truck before she was able to jump onto the roof, only to find more. There seemed to be an endless supply. She pulled out her night sticks, spinning them before charging at the monkeys, swinging the night sticks to defend herself. She flipped away from the debris of those she had destroyed, turning when she landed to see more jump onto the truck. She prepared herself only to have Superboy heavily land on the truck, throwing Robin back. She was able to steadied herself on the edge of the roof, only to have to monkeys pop the wheels, making her wobble again.

She crouched down, holding onto the edge, and looked through the front window at the driver. "Get out!" she demanded. The driver opened the door and Robin grabbed him, throwing them both into the corn field. She jumped away from him before they landed, preventing either of them from getting to badly injured. Seconds later, the truck rolled.

Robin pulled the driver out of the corn field in time to see the monkeys fly away with their half of the android, the truck smoking but no one seemed to be badly hurt. Superboy threw the truck off of him and jumped, following the monkeys.

"SUPERBOY!" Robin shouted, doubting he would listen.

A message came through her comm. System. "Aqualad to Robin, we've lost our cargo."

Robin sighed. "Ours is gone," she admitted. "And so's my partner." She listened to Superboy yell at Aqualad through the comms and then not answer the Atlantian. "I think he ditched his comm."

"Super, now we can't even track him," Kid Flash said in a clearly annoyed tone, giving Robin an idea.

She started looking around in the debris for a monkey that wasn't completely destroyed as M'gann's voice rang in her ear.

"His out of my telepathic range. This Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be one step ahead of us. M...maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"

"Red Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves," reminded Aqualad. "And this mission can still succeed if we recovered the missing parts before they are reassembled."

"Greeat plan, except the part where we don't know where they are!" snapped Kid Flash.

Robin snorted. _Predictable_, she thought, _Wally never thinks over situations properly._ She finally found a monkey that wasn't completely smashed and decided to put her best friend out of his miserable mood. "Maybe we do." She crouched down, pulling a cord out of her wrist computer, plugging it into the monkey's back. "We would have heard by now if the decoy trucks were attacked." She tapped on the computer, hacking into the information with the robotic monkey, looking for the information she wanted. "How did these monkeys know exactly what trucks to target." Finally she found it. Her hunch had been right on the mark. _Thank god Wally has a mouth_. She might not have thought of it so quickly if it wasn't for him. She instantly brought up a map, hacking into their locator system. "Ha, the monkeys have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track it with the one I captured. It looks like both sets of parts are on..." she watched the dots quickly move, a sense of dread coming over her as she realised exactly where it was going. "Gotham City." Her stomach dropped as she remembered the footage her dad showed her. If they didn't hurry, that could be Batman, or Wally.

"That far south?" Aqualad asked, making Robin roll her eyes and think, _obviously_. "M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you."

Robin knew Wally would catch up to her so she may go on ahead. She slung the monkey over her shoulder and hit a button on her wrist computer, hoping her bike wasn't too damaged that the mini bike wouldn't work.

"Definitely a disaster, heavy on the dis."

In the mean time she changed out of her civilian clothing, knowing she was going to have to fight. She folded her clothing as small as possible and put them in a compartment in her belt. The amount that thing could hold was shocking. Luckily, her mini bike appeared, allowing her to get on and drive it towards Gotham. The sky was almost completely dark and she was entering Gotham City by the time Kid Flash caught up to her.

"You changed too," she noted.

"You kidding? Ugh, I feel naked in civvies." He looked over at her. "You still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham, but they veered. Wait!" They finally stopped moving. "Dude, they're at my school."

"You've got to be kidding?!" yelped Kid Flash. "What's it doing there?"

"No clue," admitted Robin, "But we should hurry before it's put together. And if it's already together, then we should hurry before it destroys the whole school and dad uses it as an excuse it to home school me."

Kid Flash just laughed, running a bit faster as Robin drove faster. When they drew closer Robin narrowed the signal to identify where in the school the android was. She informed Kid Flash that it was in the gym. "We should split up, encase it's there with Superboy. You run through the school and I'll use the back entrance."

"Alright, be careful."

They appeared in time, Kid Flash being able to grab Superboy out from under the android's attack, running over to Robin. When he was out of the way, Robin threw one of her bird-a-rangs bomb at him.

"Accessing Martian Manhunter," the android said in a monotone, fazing through the attack, the bird-a-rang exploding behind him. "Accessing Red Tornado." He created a tornado around his lower half and advanced on the three heroes, sending them all flying.

Robin landed not too far from Superboy with a groan. She instantly looked around for Kid Flash, who was slowly rising to his feet, only to find the android standing in front of him.

"Accessing Captain Atom."

A panicked look appeared on Kid Flash's face before he ran; barely missing the laser that almost hit him. He ran around the basketball court, trying to attack from behind. The android saw it coming though and turned to face him. He accessed Black Canary's ability, seeming to dislocate his jaw to scream at Kid Flash, throwing him back.

As Robin rose to her feet, Superboy threw a punch at the android, only for it to be stopped and for Superboy to go flying through the air. Again, Robin tried with a bird-a-rang, hoping he would be confused by the consecutive attacks. The enemy easily slipped into Martian Manhunter again, swinging his arms around and batting away her attack. She and Superboy dived out of the way of his extended arms as they crashed into the bleachers, turning them into dust.

Kid Flash tried to do a surprise attack, but the android grabbed his wrist and pulled him into his tight grip. "Accessing Superman."

Robin tried to get to her feet as quickly as possible, but her legs were somewhat wobbly with constantly being thrown around. Her head started rising as Kid Flash screamed out in pain. She reached for a bird-a-rang as she crouched on her knees, hoping that it would distract the android. Thankfully, before she had even drawn it from her belt an arrow had flown at the man's head.

"Accessing Martian Manhunter."

Kid Flash slipped straight threw the man's grip when he phased out so as not to get hit by the arrow. The arrow landed close to Robin, who sighed with relief that her friend was safe. The speedster ran away from the android as Superboy charged, only to be thrown into the bleachers. Robin took the chance of his distraction to throw the bird-a-rang she had out at him. She unfortunately missed and drew his attention. He accessed Superman's head vision, his eyes glowing red.

She didn't have a chance to reach before Kid Flash had ran passed, wrapping his arms around her waist. Robin instantly reacted, putting her arms around his shoulders and lifting her legs higher off the ground. The android's hit sent more debris flying, knocking red-head off his feet. He cradled Robin to him as he turned, taking the brunt of the landing. The wind was knocked out of both of them, making them not move. Robin would never tell him, but Kid Flash's arm had slammed into her ribs on impact and she was sure she would have a bruise. It would devastate him to know he was the cause of one of her injuries.

They slowly gained their breaths back, Kid Flash removing his arm from where it draped over her waist. The two rose to their knees, breathing evenly.

"Are you alright?" Kid Flash asked her, pushing back her hair to survey her face for signs of pain or injury.

"Fine." She turned her attention to Superboy, who was yelling at Ivo and attacking him.

"Great, his gone ballistic again."

"Maybe not," Robin said with a pause, her mind reeling.

"Amazo, protect your master, priority alpha," Ivo said, looking terrified and jumping away from Superboy's attack.

"The android can only access one hero at a time, but he can throw us away too easily for us to use that. But if he is distracted by trying to protect Ivo, and keep us away from him..."

"He can't just throw us away with canary cries and tornados without hurting Ivo," Kid Flash finished, comprehension covering his face.

Let's go," Robin said before running towards Ivo who was being lifted up by his monkeys. "Anyone want to play keep away?" She kicked him in the back, sending him careening to the ground.

"Oh, me, me," Kid Flash agreed, running towards where Ivo laid.

"Access Superman," the android said in his monotone voice, slamming his foot into the ground, the shockwave sending Kid Flash flying away from Ivo.

Robin spied Superboy getting closer, using Kid Flash and Robin as the distraction. The female threw a bird-a-rang at the android, timing it perfectly. As predicted, it accessed Martian Manhunter to let it go straight threw him. Superboy jumped down, putting his fist through the android's head seconds before it solidified.

"Accessing Super..."

Sparks appeared around its head and Superboy's fist. It was only seconds before it blew up, throwing Superboy back. The android fell backwards, its neck smoking. Robin ran forward, knowing to never leave Ivo's devises in one piece, head or no.

"Help ne disassemble him! Now!" Robin ordered.

"Duude," Kid Flash started, walking towards Superboy and rubbing his arm. "His got no head."

Aqualad and M'gann appeared at the door, finally having caught up. It was the Atlantian who talked first, obviously having heard the two friends. "Don't take any chances!"

M'gann flew straight to Superboy, making sure he was okay as Aqualad ran to aid Robin.

"Fine," assured the clone to the green woman. He then turned to look at Robin, who looked over her shoulder, feeling the light blue gaze. "Feeling the aster," he assured, making Robin grin.

She noticed that M'gann looked slightly confused and hurt, but Robin gave her a friendly smile. The Girl Wonder had no interests in the strong boy in that manner and she could tell he felt the same in return.

"Hey, where's Ivo?" exclaimed Kid Flash, still holding his shoulder.

Robin noticed it was the one he landed on when he saved her and felt a wave of guilt for his pain. It seemed as though Kid Flash had received the most of the hits. They all looked around for the odd scientist though and noticed he was nowhere in sight. Figuring their main duty was the disassembling of the android, they returned to that.

Once it had been pulled to pieces again Robin and Kid Flash turned to the arrow still imbedded in the floor. They looked at each other before Robin pulled it out of the ground and tucked it into the back of her belt.

"You alright?" Kid Flash asked in concern when Robin sighed.

"Yeah, tired," she admitted. "If you remember, we didn't get much sleep last night. We really shouldn't stay up until three in the morning playing video games."

"_I_ slept in," Kid Flash reminded with a grin. "You had to get up early like a good girl."

"I had to meet a friend," she said in justification. She looked around at the mess. "My principle is going to chuck a fit," she muttered, making her friend laugh.

Eventually a handful of leaguers appeared to transport the parts, figuring it was safer for them to do it, especially after seeing the state the teenagers were in. Instead they were told to return to the mountain. Robin had to show the others where the closest zeta tube was, since the others never visited Gotham unless they absolutely had to. It was the worst city of all the cities they covered.

It was close to one o'clock in the morning when they returned to the mountain, only to find Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Green Arrow and Batman waiting for them and explain what happened.

"The android is in pieces again," assured Aqualad when they had finished explaining everything. "Safely being analysed at the two Star Labs. But Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, his arguably more dangerous than the android."

"Capturing the professor will be a league priority," informed Black Canary, leaving no room for argument.

"But we understand your mission encountered... other complications," Martian Manhunter said, crossing his arms.

They all looked at each other, expecting a scolding. Batman stepped forward, looming over them all. "Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League."

Robin felt herself swell with happiness. She always worried she was letting her father down by not taking charge, not easily defeating the enemy and things of the like.

"All the League?" Superboy asked, looking hopeful.

"Given time, yes," assured Batman, "Kryptonains, as you know, have very hard heads."

Superboy looked away, clearly not getting the answer he wanted.

Batman turned back to all of them. "Of course, there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists. Because there's some problems even _we_ can't handle individually.

"Please," snapped Robin, getting a shocked look off her father. "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask." She pulled the arrow out from the back of her belt and waved it in Batman's face who took it and handed it to Green Arrow. "Look familiar?! You were following us. Babysitting! YOU STILL DON'T TRUST US!" She wanted her father to believe she knew how to handle herself, and that Wally would always be there for her.

"We didn't follow you," Batman said as Green Arrow pulled out one of his own arrows. To everyone but Robin, it sounded like Batman's ordinary voice, but Robin could notice the slight difference, letting her know that as much as her father had wanted to, he had refrained.

She looked at the two arrows, noticing that they were greatly different. "And that's not your arrow..." she said slowly, "but that means..."

"Speedy!" Kid Flash exclaimed with a cheer.

"He has our backs!" Aqualad agreed, grinning.

Kid Flash sped over to Green Arrow, snatching the arrow away. "Souvenir."

Robin noticed that Green Arrow and Batman shared a look, making doubt claw at her insides, but she didn't let it show. She didn't want to upset the others with her thoughts. She turned out what Superboy was saying to Black Canary, knowing it wasn't important to her. Instead she started thinking over what who it could have been who shot the arrow that saved Kid Flash.

"I need sleep!" Robin declared, turning to her father. "Can we go?"

Batman nodded to her, turning to finish talk to the other Leaguers. Robin did the same with her friends.

"See ya," she said, giving a wave. She then turned to Wally, who had pulled off the top of his mask and was still holding his shoulder. "Put some ice on that." Robin gave Wally a gentle hug, feeling Wally's hand touch the middle of her back, pulling her closer. She dropped her head onto his chest and gave him a quick, soft squeeze as her way of saying thank you for saving her. Robin, in turn, felt Wally press his hand on her back a little firmer, letting her know he understood.

She drew back and stepped away, feeling her father drape an arm over her shoulders, letting her lean into him for support as her energy left her. With one last wave she walked off with the Dark Knight, to the zeta tubes. They arrived home quickly and before Robin could walk off for a quick show and to change into her pyjamas she felt her father grab her shoulders, turning her around.

"Are you injured?" he asked, his cowl removed and his worried gaze on her face.

She smiled. "A little battered from being thrown around but nothing major."

"No bruises?"

"Maybe one on my ribs, but it doesn't hurt too much."

Bruce removed her mask so that he could see her eyes. She met his brown eyes with her blue, showing the honesty on them. Her father sighed and pulled her towards him, giving her a hug that she happily returned.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to follow you tonight. I had a feeling something was wrong, I just figured it was Superboy's mood. That's why I put you with him, figuring you would calm him or speak some sense into him." He kissed the top of his daughter's messy hair, ignoring the taste of dirt and sweat it left on his lips. As long as he did not taste his daughter's blood when he kissed her head, he didn't care what else there was.

"I know, but I'm okay. There was only one scrape that could have hurt, but Wally saved me." She failed to mention that it would have been fatal, but knew her father had picked up on it.

"Go have a shower and get changed. I'll come see you to say good night."

Riley nodded and walked towards the changing room, undoing her belt as she went. She wasn't a child anymore, and didn't need her father to tuck her in at night, but she also knew that it wasn't so much for her sake as for her father's. It made him sleep more peacefully knowing she was safe. That was why she rarely slept at the mountain, unless she was completely exhausted.

There really was a bruise on her ribs, but luckily not a dark one. She slowly walked up the stairs, her legs feeling like led. It was as she slid into her bed that someone appeared at her door, knocking softly.

"Come in," she called, knowing who it was.

"Miss Riley, do want something to eat before bed? You have missed dinner," Alfred stated, not stepping into the room since there was no real need once the door was open.

"No, thank you, Alfred," she replied sleepily. "I'm too tired to eat, I'll just have a big breakfast when I wake up."

"Big breakfast it is," Alfred agreed with a slight bow. "Sweet dreams, Miss Riley."

"Good night, Alfred."

Just as the butler was pulling the door closed, her father appeared at the door, smiling. He ducked in, passed Alfred and walked towards the bed. He pulled the blankets around Riley's shoulders and sat on the edge of the bed. "Do you have a bruise?"

"Yes, but it's small." Riley thought for a moment before finally voicing the question in her mind. "Who was it that shot that arrow? I want it to be Speedy, but I'm not stupid."

"I have a hunch that it was a girl a few years older then you, but I am not positive yet," admitted her father, pushing a lock of hair from her face. "Get some sleep. Roy cares about you, all of you. Give it time and he will come around. Good night, sweetheart." He kissed her hairline, not tasting the filth of last time since it had been washed away. "I love you."

"Good night, Daddy, I love you too." She closed her eyes, feeling her father leave the space next to her. The last thing she heard was the door creaking closed behind him, the light from the hallway being cut off. Sleep took her quickly like a wave.

_**Sorry for the long wait but I wrote 6000 words worth of this today alone. I had to get the episode and keep pausing it to get it right, since I see this mission as an important part of Riley/Wally as well as DaddyBats and DaughterBird growth... if that makes sense. R and R please.**_


	7. Dynamic Duo

The vines tightened, their thorns pinching into the skin through the costume, drawing blood. She tried not to show pain on her face as the woman dressed in green circled her in amusement. She tightened her jaw, trying to look fearsome even as she hung by her arms by the vines.

_What a mess!_ Robin thought, rolling her eyes.

It was hard to work out exactly how she ended with vines wrapped tightly around her arms, tethering her to the roof as Poison Ivy annoyed her with her gloating and cackling. She had been sneaking in the back and Ivy was coming out of the toilet, clearly not expecting the Dynamic Duo to already be on to her. Robin had fought her, but she had a lot of plants, all of who loved obeying her.

"My nose is itchy," Robin declared, twitching said body part. She knew she was getting under Ivy's skin, and truthfully, the young teen probably could have annoyed her more by escaping, but she knew Batman would prefer her distracted and in one place whilst he worked on destroying her fertilizing machine. So, until then, Robin was going to keep playing hostage.

When the vines swarmed like snakes they pinched Robin's arm, making her wince involuntarily. She felt something fall from her glove, wrapping around her arm as she heard a small chiming noise. There was no need for her to look up at her arm to know what it was; the noise had become a familiar comfort to her.

"You have bizarre taste," snarled Ivy.

Robin raised one thin black eyebrow. "This coming from the woman who wears way to much green which clashes with her red hair, and makes her look like she's dressed prematurely for Christmas?" She then mumbled in a voice loud enough for the villain to hear, "You are definitely getting coal in your stocking."

Ivy scowled and started stalking forward. "At least I don't have a monkey charm on my bracelet."

Riley smiled at the memory of Superboy scoffing when Wally gave her the charm. "Jealous someone cares enough to give me so many amazing charms. Friends are wonderful things, you should try to get some," Robin advised as Ivy drew closer. The two heard beeping from another room, making Ivy look over. The Girl Wonder knew what it meant: the machine was deactivated, giving her the shot she needed to escape. Grasping the vines around her arms for support, she stopped letting her weight hang limp and instead hoisted herself up, planting both of her boots into the side of Ivy's head, easily knocking out the woman. She then easily used the laser in her glove to cut the vines, gracefully landing on her feet. The vines had cut into her arms rather ferociously but if her normal temperature and clear head were any indication, there was no poison in the thorns.

Making sure the villainess was completely unconscious; Robin rubbed her arms and looked to the shadows. "Next time you're playing Damsel Distraction and I'm playing Birdie the Destroyer."

A deep chuckle resonated from the shadows before her father stepped out elegantly, his face hidden by his cowl. The small smirk of amusement left his face when he spied Robin's injuries. "The authorities are on their way, we just need to tie her up until then. I got a call about the Joker, but you can return to the Bat Cave if you want."

"No, I'm good," assured Robin, already pulling rope out from her utility belt. "Though if I get hit with laughing gas again, I am going to crack so many bat joke. I don't waste my laughter."

"Threat taken!" Batman promised, raising his hands in a highly mocking gesture.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley gave an annoyed grumbled before stirring faster, hoping that would help. Something seemed wrong, and she didn't have Alfred's keen eye to work out what it was. She put the bowl down on the bench, hands on her hips, glaring at the substance as though it was unco-operation simply because it was stubborn. Her father entering the room didn't stop the staring contest between Riley and the bowl.

"Everything alright?" Bruce asked with an amused smile.

His question received a huff in reply before the young girl looked at the book sitting beside the bowl. "I must have stuffed up the recipe," she muttered, looking at the instructions and mentally ticking off the ones she had fulfilled. "No, it seems like I've done everything right... what could be wrong?"

Bruce made a noise of contemplation as his daughter lifted up the stirring spoon, a large amount of the dark substance on it. She turned it over and watched as it slowly released its sticky hold on the spoon, falling into the mass below. Next moment, a hand shot out, two fingers whipping through the substance. Riley's head snapped up in surprise, only to see her dad eating the substance off his fingers.

"If that's Alfred's double chocolate cake recipe then you need more milk, but other than that it tastes good." Bruce put his finger back in the bowl, making Riley raise her spoon in a threatening manner. The man only laughed before sucking on his finger.

Riley looked at her father in contemplation. She knew that many women liked her father, some going so far as to try and get close to her to get to him, but she had never really understood it. Her father was her father, Bruce and Batman, but she had never stopped to think about who he was around others. He was Master Bruce Wayne, billionaire, business man, inventor, highly intelligent and handsome. Add the fact that he adopted a circus child he barely knew; had lost his own parents at a young age and was involved in numerous charities and he would seem like a great catch to many. Riley, however, still saw the man who would always be there when she had a nightmare, who taught her to defend herself physically and emotionally, who always made her smile, made time for her, and loved her when she believed she had no one. And for all that, she smacked his hand when he went to take more dough for the third time. "No! There'd be no cake left if you keep it up."

Bruce laughed again, showing her the smile he received for his daughter. It wasn't the sophisticated smile he showed at board meetings, or the charming smile he showed at parties, it was a loving father's smile. It was only hers. "What gave you the desire to bake?"

"Still kind of jittery from the missions," confessed Riley, pouring milk into the bowl and starting to mix it. She gave a satisfied noise when it looked more like Alfred's when he baked the same cake. "And it's odd not smelling something baking. At the mountain something is always baking thanks to M'gann."

Busying himself with rolling up the top of the flour to close it, Bruce cleared his throat. "Do you want to be back there?"

Riley looked up in surprise, her blue eyes wide only to find that her father wasn't looking at her. "No!" she snapped, making her father raise his head. "I love hanging with them, especially since it gives me more time to kick Wally's butt, but I can hang with my friends whenever. The Dynamic Duo comes first!" Her father may have tried to disguise his shock and doubt but Riley saw it. "Working with my daddy every," Riley smiled widely, making a small smile appear on her father's face, "it's the coolest job ever." She turned back to the dough, stirring in the still melted, but not hot, chocolate chips. "Besides, how would you have foiled the red-haired Christmas elf if it wasn't for me, or the Joker for that matter? Daddy, you really need to work on adding more dis to your creet! The Joker saw you coming a mile off."

There was a moment of stillness before a cloud of white flew at Riley's face. She coughed, causing a puff of the white powder appear in the air. She looked up, blinking, making flour cascade down from her eyelashes. She spied her father standing in front of her, with an evil smirk on his face and an open bag of flour in his hand. Without a second thought, Riley dug her spoon into the chocolate cake dough and lobbed it's contents at her retreating father, her trademark cackle ringing.

It was a squire hit to the back of Bruce's head, but unfortunately, he still had his powdery weapon. He turned sharply and took aim, only for Riley to get a shot in, right at his face. Her victory was short-lived. She quickly had to take cover behind the bench, wisely taking the bowl and Alfred's recipe book. She hid it safely in the draw, knowing Alfred would make them both pay if anything happened to his cook books. They had been in his family for years.

Riley knew Bruce was giving her enough time to store the book safely before attacking, so once the draw was closed she quickly made her way around the island, keeping her ears sharp for any noise of her father's whereabouts. She peaked around the corner, only to jump back, barely missing the flour flying towards her. She darted out, spoon ready. The both flung their ammo at the same time, some of the flour sticking to the dough as it soared towards Bruce's chest. As Bruce's powder blue shirt was smeared with chocolate brown, Riley's forest green shirt was turned into a depiction of snow covered tree.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before laughing and firing at one another. They dodged, ducked, tucked and rolled around the kitchen, getting more food on them then they would have if they took a straight hit. Bruce, at one point, got the bowl away from Riley and dumped the remains of the dough onto her head, smearing it into her hair and onto her face. In retaliation, the young girl grabbed the sugar.

By the time they had ran out of food to throw they were sitting on the floor together, breathing heavily and laughing. Alfred walked in to find Riley wiping dough off of her forehead and licking it off her finger whilst Bruce shook his head like a dog, flour and sugar falling out. The butler did not look happy at mess covering every surface of the kitchen. He frowned at one particular stain.

"How in the world did you get it on the roof?" he asked in astonishment.

The two Waynes looked at the stain before looking at each other. They looked like they honestly tried to restrain themselves but failed. Full belly laughs rang free, making Bruce fall sideways into a lying position whilst Riley gasped for air.

Alfred would have scolded them if he hadn't seen the sad look on Bruce's face every time Riley asked about her and her friends receiving missions, or spent hours on the phone with Wally instead of talking to Bruce and lately, staying at the mountain. Bruce had been missing his daughter, feeling as though she preferred spending time with the young heroes instead of with the Dark Knight. This fact made him simply give them a disapproving looks and sent them to go get themselves cleaned up.

The two ran from the room before he could change his mind on the severity of their punishment but he could still hear them laughing and joking about who own. With a sigh he started to clean up. If they hadn't thought to put his recipe book away first them he wouldn't have gone easy on them at all.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was hard to concentrate when reading a dry, boring textbook. It was harder trying to concentrate when someone was staring at the side of you head. For five minutes, Riley had tried to ignore it, but after reading the same line four times and still not being positive if she remembered any of it, she decided to get rid of one of her problems. With questioning eyes, she turned her eyes upon her best friend. "What? You've made me read the same line four times."

Barbara tilted her head to the side. "What's in your hair?" When Riley frowned, the red head picked up the lock with the unknown element in it.

Riley recognised it instantly, causing her to laugh. "Chocolate cake dough! Daddy and I got into a food fight."

"You and _the _Bruce Wayne got into a food fight?" Disbelief covered the girl's face as she stared at the heiress.

"Not _the_ Bruce Wayne," Riley mimicked with a roll of her eyes. "Daddy." She started picking the dried dough from her hair, wondering how she missed it when she curled her hair that morning. Once it was completely out, she turned back to her textbook. "Five times," she declared when she started reading the line from before yet again.

Barbara simply laughed before a voice called out to one of them.

"Riley."

The two girls looked up, only for them to spy a boy the year older than them. Riley closed her textbook and waited for the boy to talk as she took in his appearance, assessing for any threats. It was something she had picked up from Batman. The boy was taller than her, though not nearly as tall as Wally or Kaldur, he was also lean, though not very muscular. He had tousled, medium brown hair and bright green eyes. He was dressed in the Gotham Academy's uniform, with his hands clasped behind his back in a nervous manner. She decided there was nothing threatening about him from what she could see. Truthfully, he seemed rather nice.

"I'm... um..."

"Ashton," Riley spoke kindly when the boy started licking his dry lips. "Right? From Algebra and Calculus?"

"Yeah," he said gratefully. "You're a year younger than us and still kicking our butts. You really are a mathematic genius."

"Well I like math," Riley explained bashfully. "It's fun." The dark haired girl had to fight the urge to glare at Barbara when she chuckled.

"That's good," Ashton assured before looking down at his feet. "I, ar, was wondering if you would, um, want to have a, uh, study date."

"Sure," Riley agreed before casting her eyes down at her textbook, figuring the conversation was over.

"At Darcy's Cafe?" Ashton continued hopefully.

Riley looked up with a small smile. "I don't like studying in loud places. We should study in the library, it has everything we need."

Ashton thought for a moment before blushing and proposing an alternative. "We could go to the cafe first then study, or do it another day."

"But we haven't even organised the day yet, so how can we change the day?" the ex-acrobat asked in confusion.

"I meant we could study another day."

This did not help Riley at all, and instead made her frown. "What's the point of having a study date without the study?"

At this, Barbara started laughing. "Sorry, Ashton, she's excellent at math, not so good at people." Barbara turn sideways on the bench she and Riley sat on, giving the other girl the queue to do the same. She then placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and spoke plainly. "Riley, sweetie, he's asking you out on a date."

"I know," assured the dark haired girl. "A study date."

Barbara gave her a look of pity. "No, on a regular date. He was using the study as an excuse."

"Oh," Riley breathed before looking over at Ashton who looked crest fallen. "I would love to but I have to check with my dad first. He's highly protective."

"I'm great with people," Ashton exclaimed helpfully. "All my friends' parents love me."

"My dad's not like most parents." Riley ignored Barbara's snort of laughter. "What time? So I can give him specifics."

"One?" he asked hopefully. "On Saturday?"

"Alright, I'll let you know by Thursday at the latest."

It was when he was out of earshot that Barbara asked the critical question. "I may not believe Bruce is the type to get into food fights, but I know he doesn't want you dating. How are you going to convince him to let you go?"

Riley gave a tight smile, attempting to look positive. "Leave out the details. Tell him I want to hang with a friend from school, and if he wants a name, say Ash instead of Ashton and hope he thinks it stands for Ashley."

"Good luck," Barbara half-heartedly wished.

"Uh-huh."

_**Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you like all the Bruce/ Riley bonding. Before you all wonder, I am not doing a cliché: Wally acknowledges his feeling cause Robin is taken sort of thing. Trust me, this is not like that. Hope you R and R.**_


	8. The Voice

The metal clamped on a lock of her hair, slowly running down, straightening the dark hair as it went. She was almost done when her phone started ringing. Holding the straightener in one hand, she picked up her mobile and answered.

"Hold on a moment," she instructed, putting the phone back down on the basin. She finished straightening her hair before looking at the ID of the person who called. "Hey, Wally."

"Hey," greeted her friend's voice from the device. "What was that about?"

"I needed two hands," explained Riley, turning off the straightener and walking out of the bathroom and to her dresser. "So, how much have you been missing me?"

"Heaps," assured the red head. "The missions aren't quite as fun without you, especially with the new girl."

"Be nice," Riley scolded, pulling underwear out of her top draw before bumping it closed with her hip.

"Rob, Speedy, or Red Arrow or whatever his going as, may feel like he doesn't have a place in the team." Wally's voice faltered towards the end of his statement making it apparent how much Roy leaving hurt him. "I k ow I'd feel the same way if a new speedster joined."

Riley dropped her garments onto the bed and put a hand on her hip, sighing deeply. "Wally, Roy knows we care about him and the two of us have made it clear that we want him on the team, even if that means dropping Artemis. And, Dude, you know you're irreplacable."

"Thanks, Rob," muttered the boy.

He paused for a moment making Riley roll her eyes and drop her towel, starting to put on her underwear whilst waiting for Wally to talk. She had a funny feeling he was hunting for food. He tended to forget to talk when he was looking for sustanance. It was when Riley was trying to put on her bra whilst still holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder that Wally started talking.

"I met a pretty cool guy today."

Riley put one bra strap on before changing the ear that the phone was on and put the other strap on before clasping it at the back. "Who is he?"

"Kent Nelson... What are you doing?" Wally asked in confused voice, obviously hearing the strained noises Riley made as she tried to get dressed whilst still listening to him on the phone.

"Getting dressed," Riley explained, looking for a shirt. "Kent Nelson? Isn't that Doctor Fate?"

"Yeah, he's now in the helmet though," Wally sighed sadly. "Wait, was I talking to you naked?"

"Me naked or you naked?"

"You naked." Wally gave a short laugh. "Kaldur just gave me the weirdest look."

"Yes, and anyway, back to Doctor Fate!" Riley interrupted with a chuckle, wanting to steer the conversation to the topic that had peaked her interest.

Wally jumped into a telling of the mission from when he started hitting on M'gann that day to when he finished the day by yet again hitting on M'gann. By the end of it Riley had a few things to say and had neglected to finish getting dressed and instead was sitting on her bed.

"I can't believe I missed that! Dude, you doct-out! That is awesome. and Nelson seems really great but, Dude, you need to stop lying to M'gann. If you really do like her then you should be honest, otherwise she may just fall for the guy you're pretending to be." Riley grabbed her shirt, starting to put it on.

"See, this is what I tried to explain to Nelson. He told me to find a Spitfire, someone who wouldn't let me get away with anything. He meant Artemis but even if I could put up with her, she doesn't let me get away with _anything_. You let me get away with the things that don't affect anyone, I don't need to find a Spitfire, and I don't substigate M'gann to what she subjected Superboy to."

"That is true." Riley tried one last time to zip up her shirt before sighing. "Wally I have to put the phone down for a minute." The moment her hands were free it was much easier to get the top done up so that its light blue material sat comfortably on her torso. "Alright, I have about five more minutes to talk before I have to go but I'll be hunting for a skirt."

"What are you getting ready for? Lunch with your dad?"

"No," Riley said slowly, worried how Wally would react. He could be more over protective then her father at times. "I'm having lunch with a friend."

"Male friend or a female friend?" Wally asked in a stern voice.

"Wow, a question my dad didn't ask," Riley joked as she pulled on a knee length white skirt. When she only received silence, she knew that it wasn't going to work. "It's a boy."

"So a date?" Wally's voice took on a deep quality that Riley wasn't used to. It called for answers, and had the air of authority.

Riley was stunned into muteness by the way her friend reacted but when Wally snapped her name, she squeaked out a reply. "Yes." She then continued to rush out an explanation, "he's nice, a year older than me, in the same math class. His actually really good at math! And we're going to the best burger place in Gotham, better then the place you took me to in Central City. I'll pick you up one the next time I'm heading to the mountains. Extra pickles, right?"

"Rob," Wally started slowly. "If you get into any trouble, call me and I'll be there is minutes! I'm serious! If he tries anything, or you just get sick of the date, call me."

"I promise." Riley looked at the clock beside her only to give a slight jump of surprise. "I've got to go. I'll call you later, and I want to see that helmet! See ya."

"Talk to you later."

Riley hung up, slipped on her shoes, grabbed her bag and ran from the room. Alfred had already agreed to drive her to the café, and was not planning to tell her father about who it was she was having lunch with. The whole drive there Alfred was humming to himself, in a way that seemed completely innocent but Riley knew he was teasing her by the fact that every third note was then turned to a tune resembling the wedding tune. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she gave Alfred the bat-glare. He simply smiled back at her.

She got out of the car with a quick goodbye and walked into the café, spotting Ashton sitting in a booth. Walking over, she watched as he noticed her and waved with a smile. Riley returned the silent greeting before sliding into the booth, sitting across from the boy.

"I still can't believe you said yes," Ashton exclaimed after a few moments of silence.

"Why wouldn't I say yes?" Riley played with the corner of her menu.

"Well," Ashton took a breath. "You never seem to pay much attention to me, and there are a fair few people who would want to go out with Bruce Wayne's daughter."

Riley felt a sickening swirl go through her stomach. She knew there were plenty of people who wanted to use her. "Are you like them?" She raised her blue eyes to his green, making sure she appeared to be an insecure teenager instead of a human lie detector.

"No, I don't care that you're a Wayne," assured Ashton. "You're a Grayson anyway."

Once assuring herself that he was telling the truth, she smiled, relaxing enough to get to know Ashton better. He seemed like a decent person to Riley. Deciding to see how the date would go, she opened her menu and started scanning over its contents. When the waiter came over, Riley ordered, not bothering to look at the price, or worry about what Ashton would think of her for actually eating more than a salad. Spending so much time with Wally made her not care. It wasn't like she wouldn't work it off later in training.

Ashton gave her an unusual smile once he had finished ordering his own. "Do you always eat like that?"

"Pretty much," Riley answered with a bob of her head. "Except when my friend and I order food, I always get double. He's always still hungry after he eats his, so I order double for him."

Ashton's smile turned into one of amusement, though Riley could tell there was more behind it. "Sounds like you do that a lot."

"A bit," agreed the girl, "we've known each other for four to five years." Riley politely thanked the waitress who put their drinks on the table, happy for a chance to change the topic, since Wally seemed like an inappropriate one.

"So," Ashton started as Riley took a sip of her lemonade. "I know you like math, but what else do you like?"

"Video games." Her reply seemed to peak her date's interest. "Computers, tech really."

"You used to be an acrobat. Aren't you into that anymore?"

Riley gave an awkward smile and looked away, out the window. "I retired!"

"Why? From what I've heard, you were good at it."

The girl had thought her tone had had a sense of finality to it, making it clear that said topic was off limits, but Ashton seemed to not have heard it. "It's not so fun to be 'the Flying Graysons' when you're the _only_ Grayson."

Ashton smiled and nodded, as though he understood. "Do you ever think you'll go back to the circus?"

It was her training as Robin that stopped the pain from flickering across her features. "I don't know. I've never thought about it." She looked over towards the kitchen, being glad to see that their food was about to arrive. "Can we change the topic?"

"Of course." Ashton gave a start. "I should have thought, sorry. What kind of movies do you like?"

A large smile spread across her face as the safe question. From there, it didn't take long for them to discover that they had similar tastes in movies, though not in music and only a handful of their video games overlapped, but they were able to offer some suggestions of games to play. They sat in the small restaurant for two hours before Riley saw the Wayne car pull up outside.

"I have to go," she announced, grabbing her bag, and pulling money out of her purse and put it on the table to pay for her lunch.

"Do you think your adoptive father will let you come on another date?" Ashton asked hopefully, watching as the dark haired girl slid out from her side of the booth.

Riley thought for a moment before smirking. "I could probably talk him into it. I'll see you at school."

They said their goodbyes before Riley made her way outside, getting into the passenger seat of the dark tinted car. It didn't surprise her as much as her father had hoped when she saw that he was the one driving.

"This isn't the Batmobile," she reminded calmly, doing up her seat belt. "You can't speed."

"Did you have fun on your date?" Bruce asked in an even voice.

Riley looked at the side of Bruce's head, wanting to gage his reaction to her next statement. "I did, actually. He asked me out again, and I'm gonna say yes."

No matter how much he had trained himself to school his expressions, he wasn't able to hide the way that his eyes widened in shock before narrowing in displeasure. "If he does one thing I deem inappropriate, he'll have many things to fear."

"Yeah, you and Wally!" Riley rolled her eyes. "I won't let him do anything but it is comforting to know you both have my back."

"Wally doesn't know who you are though," stated Bruce, glancing at her suspiciously.

"He doesn't need to know. I think he was planning to talk you into teaming up with him if he thought something was wrong." Her father seemed to find it believable, since it did sound like something Wally would do. "That reminds me, I have to call him so that he doesn't think Ashton performed a virgin sacrifice or something."

"I'm glad to hear that," Bruce muttered to himself.

Riley frowned, not know how Wally's paranoia was a comfort to her father. She pushed it to the back of her mind, since it didn't really affect her. Once she got home, she called Wally, sitting on her bed, listening to it ring. It hadn't even rang twice before Wally's voice sounded through the speaker.

"What happened?"

This straight to the point question made her laugh. "We ate lunch and talked. Take a breath, Wally. I'm fine. You are honestly worse than dad some times."

Wally was silent for a minute, making Riley worry, since speedsters couldn't sit still or stay quiet for too long. "Did you have fun?" he finally said.

"Yeah, and I'm going to go on another date with him."

"Bet Batman's happy about that!" chuckled Wally.

"I have a funny feeling that he will stalk me on my next date but on the plus for you, I'll be back doing missions with you tonight. Dad told me on the way home. I'm just going to have a shower first and then I'll be over soon. Don't forget you have to show me that helmet."

"Just don't put it on. I don't want to lose you."

After her shower, where she washed off her make-up and allowed her hair to turn back into its usual messy self, she went down to the cave to get changed into her uniform. Her father was sitting at the Cave main computer when she finished getting ready. She stood silently behind him, knowing Batman knew she was there.

Finally, he spoke up, not taking his eyes off the computer or halting his typing. "You will be working with the team for at least the next two weeks. After returning home from school, I expect you to finish your homework then go to the cave. You will either be on missions or training. Return here either in the morning to get ready for school or once you've finished your duties for the night. You won't be patrolling with me."

Robin was taken by surprise at Batman's blatant words "Will do," she agreed, using a strong voice. Once her father stood, she followed him through the Zetatubes to the mountain where they were to find out what mission they had.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleep ended too soon and morning came too early. She was used to functioning on little sleep, but usually, when she finally did get to go to bed for a certain amount of hours, she fell asleep instantly but lately, that had not been the case. The most annoying part of the problem, though, was that she knew what was causing her insomnia.

She had barely seen Batman since her date with Ashton. On the nights that she dragged herself through the Zetatubes to the Batcave, and then up to her room in the Wayne Manor, he was on patrol, and whenever she returned in the morning instead, he was at work or asleep. When she returned home from school, it was a similar story; he was at work, or at the League Headquarters.

Whenever Alfred answered her question of where was her father, he always gave her a sympathetic look. He seemed to know what Robin was feeling, which wouldn't surprise her. He seemed to know everything about her and Batman.

With a tired moan, Robin tried to make her way from her room to the kitchen where she knew M'gann was cooking breakfast. It was made difficult by the fact that she couldn't keep her eyes open for longer than a second. It was as though her brain had wired her eyes so that they believed blinking was opening one's eyes for a moment, instead of closing them.

She heard a grumbling sound that, after a moment's thought, she realized was a chuckle, before arms engulfed her. Letting her head fall back, she rested against the solid form behind her. It was warm, like her blankets, and smelt like clothing fresh from the dryer and popcorn. She turned around in the embrace, cuddling into the form, enjoying the warmth it gave off.

Another chuckle rumbled the form, making Robin frown. "Stop moving," she pouted.

"You tired?" Wally asked, positioning Robin so he could lead her into the kitchen without letting go of her. When he received a nod, he went on, "Why? I would have thought you've dealt with longer hours before."

"Dad hasn't been talking to me," Robin admitted, her eyes still closed. "I don't know if he has actually been that busy, or if he's avoiding me, or he just hasn't realized because he tends to keep an eye on me."

Wally sat Robin down in one of the dining chairs before sitting next to her, touching her hand that her charm bracelet was on. "I bet it's either the first or the last. You know your dad cares about you."

Robin nodded, knowing Wally was telling the truth. Breakfast helped her gain some energy, which she was hoping would be enough to get her through the day. Her school day wouldn't have any difficulties unless there was something unrelated to school, or a sudden test.

As it was, there was something not on her schedule that appeared within her school day. She had yet to get back to Ashton about a second date, something he wanted to fix at that point. Riley was sitting in the library with Barbara, her head down on the table. Her friend had walked off to find a book for the homework subject she was doing. Luckily for Riley, she herself had already finished.

She had fallen asleep at some point, her head aching from its need for rest. It failed to gain any, however, for someone started shaking her shoulder. With a whine, she turned her head and opened her eyes, meeting green. "Hey, Wally," she muttered, closing her eyes again.

"Who's Wally?"

Frowning, Riley lifted her head and searched the person's face before her. Their green eyes were much like Wally's but without the constant mirth and where not coupled with deep red hair but brown, loose curls. "Ashton, sorry, you and my friend have the same colour green eyes. Can't believe I didn't realize that before."

Ashton smiled, sitting down in Barbara's vacant seat. "That's alright, I'm sure I'm better looking," he joked. "So, uh, I was wondering if you," he rolled his eyes as a means of keeping doubt out of them before sighing and admitting his insecurities, "if you actually wanted to go out with me again."

"Yeah, I had fun," Riley assured, trying to stifle the yawn that was begging to come out. "I've just been busy and I don't know if dad likes that me dating. He's been acting a little weird."

"So?" Ashton asked in confusion. "Does it matter? He's just your guardian and I'm not going to hurt you."

"He's not just my guardian, he's my dad, and he usually has a great reason for what he does," explained the dark haired girl. "I just need to talk to him first."

Ashton seemed to contemplate this before nodding. "Fair enough. I see your friend coming back, so I'll let you get back to sleep and she can have her seat back."

Riley gratefully dropped her head back onto the table, her arms providing a pillow. She was hoping she could talk to her father when she got home, since she had no homework left, but instead she ended up falling asleep for an hour before Alfred woke her so she could go to the mountain where Batman was assigning them a mission. Her father's words were quick and Robin couldn't tell if he even glanced at her under his cowl.

As much as it plagued her mind, she knew she had to push it away for the sake of the mission. They went to the Gotham City, to one of its numerous warehouses that illegal deals and trades took place and insects lived.

"You would think the Mayor of Gotham would get rid of all these warehouses," Kid flash mused through the telepathic link.

"Yes, but where would all the villains go?" Robin replied with a smirk. "They're like rats. Destroy their dwelling and they will find another."

"She has a point," agreed Superboy.

As Kid Flash nodded, something Robin could see since he was standing next to her, Aqualad spoke up in their minds. "Robin, Kid Flash, enter from the back and survey the layout of the room. I want to know if there are any dangers besides out target. Superboy, I want you to track down the target's location with your super hearing, when we go in, come in from the back. Don't lose him. M'gann, you are with me. Once we get the information from Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy we'll enter from the front and take down the target. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Robin said, jumping on Kid Flash's back so he could quickly run them inside. "Can we stop calling the guy a target? It sounds like we're planning to assassinate him."

Kid Flash laughed as Aqualad grumbled. "What do you want me to call him?"

They had entered the warehouse, allowing Robin to look around. In one corner was the 'person', for lack of better words, was smashing boxes and machinery. The moment she laid eyes on him she thought of a name they could use.

"Ew, how about Mud-Monster."

"Robin," M'gann scolded in a kind voice.

"What," Robin defended herself. "He looked like he was caught in a mud slide and now his face is melting off of him."

"Ew," M'gann agreed.

Since the warehouse wasn't that big, it didn't take long for Robin to describe the layout and since they could easily see the big Mud-Monster, Superboy didn't need to use his super hearing. The three others rushed in, which Robin thought was stupid, since the taking by surprise strategy was always the best with stronger foes.

Everything happened so fast. Robin and Kid Flash tried to join the fight, but it seemed to be one sided, the Mud-Monster's side winning. Superboy, who kept charging the enemy, was the first, landing painfully on the ground.

Aqualad gave confusion instructions, telling Kid Flash to try and come at the guy from behind with Robin playing distraction from the front. It didn't end the way Aqualad was hoping. The Mud-Monster seemed to predict what they were doing and ignored the bird-a-rangs that became lodged in its chest and instead turned, swiping at Kid Flash, whose feet were stuck to the ground by some of the mud that had fallen from their enemy.

Robin's eyes widened in shock when she heard the sickening thud mixed with a mild squelch as her best friend landed. His eyes were closed but his chest were still rising and falling, giving her comfort. She shot a glance at Aqualad, who hesitated. Figuring that their leader was stumped, she rushed forward, bird-bombs at the ready, only for Aqualad to charge in front of her, not realizing what she was doing.

She skidded to a halt only to see M'gann's leg be grabbed by a hand coated in a thick quantity of mud. The Martian was thrown to the ground next to their two team mates. It was only then that Robin thought of something. Batman had told them that this monster appeared after radio activity at the swamp at the rim of Gotham. That meant that there was a high chance that this thing was completely made of mud, which meant that if she electrocuted it or blew it up, they would be done and could get their friends out. The only problem was that Aqualad had started swinging his water swords, making it hard for Robin to get close enough and with M'gann unconscious they couldn't communicate with thought.

"Aqualad," she called, trying to get at the Mud-Monster He didn't hear her though, meaning she couldn't set her plan into motion with him so close. "Aqualad, I have an idea." Again no response as she ducked a punch from the monster, then jumped high, trying to land a kick to its face. Instead, she received a punch to the stomach, making her fall. She didn't hit the ground straight away, but was kicked first, making her fly across the room. Pain shot through her body before black dots appeared in her vision. Her eyes closed.

"Robin, sweetheart, wake up," a soft voice whispered as the top half of her body was lifted off of the ground.

Opening her eyes, she waited for her vision to clear before responding to the person holding her. "Daddy?"

"Yeah," he said before looking over at Superboy who made a pained noise. He lowered Robin to the ground again and checked on the clone.

Robin tried to repress the pain she felt that had nothing to do with the fight and instead turned to Kid Flash, who was still unconscious. It took a few shakes but finally he started mumbling.

"Do you have food?"

"No," chuckled Robin, helping him up as Aqualad finally got M'gann to wake up.

They made their way back to the mountain under Batman's guidance. The moment they had stepped out of the zetatubes, Batman turned. "I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you, hit the shows and head home."

"I am home," grumbled Superboy.

Robin lingered behind Aqualad, figuring her father wouldn't mind her hearing, and that way they could go home.

"Just Aqualad," Batman added in the same, cold voice.

She tried to hide the frown that wanted to appear on her face. Instead she walked off to her room, stripping off her costume and jumping into the shower. She showered quickly and got dressed in civilian clothes, her sunglasses in place.

Batman was waiting for her by the zetatubes but she didn't stop, simply walking straight through. She heard her father appear in the cave as she made her way out of it. She instantly went to her room, changed into gym pants, a sports bra and a tank top. After that, she went to the gym room, working on her acrobatic tricks. She practiced on the rings until sweat poured down her face. Riley flipped, letting go of the rings only to catch them and hold herself upside down. Her arms burned painfully, but she worked through it, bringing herself down so her arms were out to the sides, straight.

"Just Aqualad," she growled, remembering the voice her father used as she ignored the tickle of the sweat as it ran down the side of her face. She lifted herself up, her feet pointed before flipping herself again, letting go of the rings. There had been too much force behind her release, making her fly away from the rings. She landed on another piece of equipment but couldn't balance herself and stumbled away until she slammed into the wall. Anger boiled inside of her, making her turn and punch the wall, leaving a deep dint. She stalked over to where she left her bottle of cold water.

It's tempreture felt pleasant against her forhead as she took a seat, but it did little for the doubts and fury raging inside of her. Her father ignored her for a week then used that voice on her. "What the hell did I do to deserve that?" she growled, opening her water.

The door opened and someone cleared their throat, drawing her attention. "Master Bruce wishes to see you," Alfred said with a blank face.

Riley contemplated ignoring him, but decided against it, knowing Batman would just hate her more. Instead she got up and followed Alfred in silence. He led her to the door leading to the backyard, opening it for her. Instantly a basketball was bounced into her hands. "What's this?" she snapped.

"Training," Bruce explained in a voice barely hiding his humour. "Hand-eye co-ordination."

"One on one?" she asked hopefully.

"If you can handle it," joked her father with a smile.

Riley bounced it passed him with a laugh, following after it. Bruce tried to take it from her, only for her to shot the ball through the hoop. Unfortunately, Bruce caught it once it fell through, allowing him to dribble it to half court. By the end of their match, it was 8-12 with Bruce winning.

"Cheat," teased Riley, passing the ball to her dad.

Her father chuckled before starring off at the garden, his face contemplative. "So, this boy," Bruce started, turning his gaze onto Riley. "How do you know him?"

"Ashton? He's in my math class."

"So his a year older then you." Bruce paused. "Is he any good at math?"

"Top five of our class," assured Riley, before figuring she should defend Ashton further. "He tutors kids at Gotham public, and his grades have never slipped below a C besides the year his uncle died. I checked."

Bruce took a deep breath, making Riley realize that he was about to make rules for her to obey. "If your grades slip, you are both in trouble, if he finds out about you being Robin, you are in trouble, and if Wally has to stop worrying about virgin sacrifices, he is dead and you are grounded for the rest of your life."

Riley frowned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "You want Wally to worry that Ashton is going to kill me? Is that so if I break the first two rules you can have an accomplice in hiding the body?"

The innocent, confused look on the girl's face made Bruce know that the last rule was unnecessary. No matter the amount of horrific things she saw as Robin, or simply from living in Gotham, she was still innocent when it came to a particular topic. Something the fearsome hero was thankful for.

He smiled and drew her close to him, giving her a one armed hug. "I'm so thankful you're my daughter."

Riley's face broke out with a dazzling smile. "Thanks, Daddy." Her smile dropped for a moment as she thought of the voice he used earlier. It was his Batman voice! The one he used on everyone but her. It was a cold, distant and calculating voice that fearful shivers down everyone's spines when they heard it. He had never, ever, used it on her before and she couldn't work out what she had done to deserve it, but she also did not want to be told. So she kept quiet and put on a cheerful face, convincing herself it was a onetime thing.

_**Yet another chapter already. I'm rather proud of myself. I'm also hoping to have a chapter of 'Still Friends?' finished soon. Sorry to the reviewers who are dying to see Wally become jealous because unfortunately, I'm taking this particular plot point in another direction, but that does not mean that there isn't going to be some juicy Ashton- Wally conflict. Though I could be just teasing you all. I am evil after all. My friends have theorized at least ones that I am secretly a Gotham villain but then they remember that Batman has never been taken down or had a villain fan girl ask for Robin's autograph. R and R please.**_


	9. Must Not Be Important

_**This is set mainly during Bereft, but you may have realized by now that I don't simply repeat what was in the show, but add elements, add scenes and POV's. Hope you like. R and R.**_

Nothing he looked at seemed to make sense to him, making him wonder if there was more to his problem than simply a headache. He was in a desert, and wearing a black version of his uniform, which he did not understand. Instead of panicking, he decided to look around in the hopes of finding answers. It wasn't long before he found a wooden shack that looked abandoned. He knocked when he reached the door, simply to check, but received no answer, making him believe it was safe to enter.

It surprised him to find a figure lying on the ground, in a green costume with a bow and a satchel full of arrows. The girl looked to be close to his age and was unconscious. He decided it would be best if he made sure she was alright before he chose his next move. Kneeling down, he shook her shoulder softly, trying to rouse the girl.

"Wake up," he cooed watching as the girl's eyes opened. He smiled at her as she sat up only for her to jump away with a slight yelp. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," he promised, holding out his hand in a friendly gesture. "I'm one of the good guys." He stood, one hand on his hip and pointed at himself with his thumb. "You know, Kid Flash."

The girl frowned suspiciously at him. "Seen Kid Flash on the news. He doesn't wear black."

"Uh, little unclear on that myself," he admitted before gesturing to her outfit. "What about you? Green Arrow fixation?"

The blonde looked down at herself and gave a start. "Who put me in this?"

"Waw, I am not touching that with a… da… so do you know how to use that bow?" Kid Flash tried to change the subject, wondering what situation he had gotten himself into.

"Yeah," the girl promised in a threatening voice, moving off the wall. "My dad taught me. Dad! He must have done this. One of his stupid tests."

Kid Flash tried to remember if he was grabbed by anyone but the only memory that came to mind was him tackling Robin, who seemed to have had a burger for him from Gotham. "What kind of test?"

"He probably wants me to kill you."

The plainness in which she stated it shocked Kid Flash. He was snapped out of his shock however, by the noise of a bomb dropping, something he knew very distinctly, amnesia or not. He grabbed the girl's hand, ignoring the part of his brain that said he was saving a potential killer. They ran from the hut, narrowly missing the explosion but being thrown to the ground by the shockwave. He had only a minute to recover before cars came driving towards them with large guns on top. He and the still mysterious girl ran, only for her to stop and take aim. He watched her blow up on car with an arrow, the remains from the car flying overhead but the remainder were tanks and the girl seemed to have little luck. Kid Flash put her goggles on and ran over to her, picking her up and running away. "Sorry, they have bigger arrows," he joked as he dodged bullets.

"Thanks," the girl said softly.

"Hey, I told you, good guy," Kid Flash reminded, hoping to convince the girl into not hurting him. "Now, not to pry, but what's your name? And what is this about you killing me?"

"Artemis," the girl answered after hesitation. She refused to speak further, making Kid Flash sigh.

"So, do you think we're alone out here? I mean, besides the bad guys with the guns. And where do you think here is?" Kid Flash asked, wanting a conversation and to brainstorm ideas.

"I don't know," Artemis admitted, a sigh barely hiding the defeat in her voice. "I don't remember how I got here. The last thing I can remember is going to my Science class. You?"

"Um," Kid Flash said, thinking over the details to his most recent memory. "Robin… she came over to play video games like always and she brought me a burger from somewhere in Gotham but it's fuzzy, though it seems to be important."

"_The_ Robin!? As in Batman and Robin?" Artemis asked in shock, her awe barely contained.

"Fangirl?" Kid Flash guessed, smiling widely.

"No," Artemis snapped, "I just think she's alright. You know, her and her dad."

"Fair enough." Kid Flash decided not to push the subject or mention the longing that seemed to slip into Artemis' voice at the last part, and instead focused on running, though where, he had yet to work out. He could feel his energy seeping from him at an alarming rate. Usually he burnt through his energy faster than a normal person but never this quickly. He only ever experienced this when he let his stomach empty.

Eventually, he had to put the archer down, having no energy left to carry on. "Sorry, running on empty," he panted, "I don't think I've eaten in a while." He opened the small pocket on his wrist, hoping to find an energy bar. "Been out here for over twenty-four hours, or my cupboards wouldn't be bare."

Before Artemis could say anything, something landed heavily between them, throwing sand up. A muscular boy in nothing but dark pants hit Kid Flash, throwing him into the rock wall. Artemis quickly flipped away, shooting an arrow at the attacking boy. It did nothing except that it made the boy jump towards her. She rolled away as tanks appeared. The mysterious boy started attacking the tanks instead.

"What side is he on?" Artemis asked Kid Flash.

"Do you want to stick around and find out?" He grabbed Artemis' hand, running them out of area. Fatigue hit, however, making him stumble and roll down the sand dune with Artemis.

Planes threw overhead. Without hesitating, Artemis notched an arrow, taking aim.

"_Don't worry, I'm almost there!"_

The voice ringing in her head distracted her, making her miss. "Did you just hear a girl talking in your head?"

"Girls are always on my mind," Kid Flash admitted in what he thought was a smooth voice, "but they're not usually talking." He didn't mention that most of his thoughts relating to a female were him trying to remember the cheat codes Robin used. Something told him it wasn't very 'smooth' to talk about your female best friend.

A green girl flew over head, wearing a uniform that looked suspiciously like Martian Manhunter's costume. She took down the planes with telepathy before landing in front of them.

"Well, Jon, the outfit looks familiar but I'm not sure the new bod screams 'Manhunter'," Kid Flash joked.

"You know my uncle Jon?" the girl asked in an excited voice. "Hello, Megan," she tapped her palm against her forehead, "of course you do! You're Kid Flash! Wally! And you're Artemis."

"Wait, wait! You're Martian Manhunter's niece?" Kid Flash asked, trying to organize the information he was being given. "Is that how you know my name?"

"Your name's really Wally?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kid Flash groaned. He hated it when people made fun of his name. He actually liked his name but most people he met felt the need to comment on it. Robin was the only one who never seemed to say anything about it. When he had asked her, she had admitted to liking the name. She said she had always preferred the old fashioned names over the common placed or modern ones.

"It's okay," assured the girl Kid Flash assumed was named Megan. She seemed to believe he make an unhappy noise from them knowing his identity instead of the way Artemis asked her question. "We're team mates. Friends! I made you cookies."

Artemis gave him an untrusting look. "You know her?"

"No, I swear, beautiful, never seen her before in my life," he assured, before thinking, realizing he had large gaps in his memory. The last solid memory he had was tag-teaming some villains with the Flash. "At least, I don't think."

"You both lost your memories too!" sighed Megan. "Come on, I'll fill you in as we go. Robin and Superboy need our help."

"Of course, Robin and Super… what now?"

"Superboy," repeated Megan, floating off, expecting them to follow on foot.

"No, Robin," snapped Kid Flash, his senses going into over drive as panic bubbling into his stomach. "What about Robin needing help?"

Megan stopped floating, turning to look at Kid Flash at the same time as Artemis. "Oh, not she should be fine, but she might not have her memories like the rest of us and is out in the desert with those people."

"Let's find her quickly," ordered Kid Flash, using a voice that demanded no arguments. "If that Superboy is anything like Super_man_, he can take care of himself for a while." He could tell Megan wanted to say something against that, but Kid Flash turned his hard eyes onto her. "Find her! Now!"

The green girl almost looked frightened before nodding her head and concentrating. "This way." She took off quickly, making them follow.

As they went, she explained that she was able to retrieve part of her memories, involving them as a team as well as how she came to be on Earth from Mars. She admitted to her memories still being incomplete, but she knew she could trust them. Before she could elaborate any more, commotion reached their ears.

Kid Flash ran ahead, towards the noise. He stopped at the top of the sand dune, hidden, long enough to survey the scene. He saw smoke, no doubt from Robin, as the girl was amongst a scuffle. She threw three bird-a-rangs, cutting two gun barrels but missed the last one. Two people charged her but she jumped away and ended up doing a handstand on another man's head, forcing them to spin, allowing her to kick the two others.

It was as she landed on her knee, sliding back, that he noticed the three people advancing on her, guns pointed. Pooling as much energy as he could, he ran down, taking the guns off of them before they had a chance to shoot.

"I'll take that!" he quipped to annoy them. He then runs to two others who had appeared, taking their guns as well. "Thanks." He stopped, dropping them in a pile between the two. He easily fought alongside Robin, seeing as it was something he had yet to forget. He was vaguely aware of when the other two girls joined in the fight but it seemed so natural that it didn't throw him off at all.

After grabbing one of the men by their foot, swinging him into his own allies, Kid Flash turned to Robin, who was looking at the Megan and Artemis in confusion. She then turned her head, looking at him before smiling.

"KF, man it's good to see a familiar face." Robin walked towards him, high fiving him, keeping a hold of his hand.

"Hey, Rob, memory loss?" Kid Flash guessed, since they were all meant to part of a team but Robin didn't seem to recognize the other two girls.

"Six months!" Robin let go of Kid Flash's hand, throwing hers up in exasperation. "Let's hog tie these creeps and compare notes." She pulled rope out of her belt, her bracelet falling out of her glove as she handed it to Kid Flash to straight out.

"Wow, it really is as pretty as everyone says," Artemis muttered, making Kid Flash and Robin look at her. Once noticing their eyes, she blushed and moved forward. "Your bracelet, can I have a look?"

Robin held out her arm as she let Megan tie up the men. She smiled as she turned her wrist, letting Artemis see all the different charms. "KF got them all for me." She gave him the same smile she wore every time he gave her a new one, but then it turned into a frown. She inspected the bracelet herself before holding her wrist out to Kid Flash. "I don't recognize a lot of these charms, do you?"

The red head took Robin's hand, turning the piece of jewelry around with his fingers. He recognized the blue star and the sea shell, which were the last two he remembered giving her, but there was a number of charms he didn't recognize. "I guess Megan's right about us being in a team."

Robin cocked her head to the side before deciding to question that piece of knowledge later. "So, the last thing I remember clearly was my thirteenth birthday, which is in the start of February and then, the next day, us staying up all night playing games and eating pizza. But I have a fragmented memory of Batman. You?"

"Mission with Flash a few days after that and I have a fragmented memory of you bringing over a burger one game night. It seems important for some reason."

The girl smirked at him. "KF, are you hungry?" At the nod she received, she gave a bark of laughter. "That's why it's important. It has food in it." She then turned to the two mystery girls. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Megan, Jon's niece, and this is Artemis. I live at the mountain, were our team meetings are. You and Wa…"

Robin cleared her throat loudly. "Since we have enemies around, you shouldn't use our real names."

"Oh, right, sorry, Robin," Megan rushed to say. You and _Kid Flash_ play video games there all the time if memory serves and I make cookies. There's a boy too, his really strong."

"So, we're a team?" Robin clarified, letting the idea roll of her tongue as she eyed Artemis and Megan. She then smirked as she looked at Kid Flash, clearly liking the idea of being on a team with him.

"The four of us and Superboy," Megan added.

Comprehension covered Robin's face as she pulled something out of the back of her belt. "Then this must be his."

"Yes!" the green girl gleefully said. "Did you see him?"

"I think we did," Artemis interejected as Robin shook her head. The blonde looked at Kid Flash for back up.

"Ferral boy?" Kid Flash mused, rubbing his chin. "Some team mate. He attacked us!"

Artemis frowned. "He didn't know who we are. I don't know who we are."

A look crossed Robin's face that Kid Flash recognized as putting pieces together in her head. "I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him."

Kid Flash tried not to roll his eyes at the glee in Robin's voice. They had always had a slight competition going as to whose mentor was better. "How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" He tapped his emblem, his suit changing from black to its usual yellow and red, making everyone jump. "Wow, this is cool!" He pressed it again, watching it change back to black. He vaguely noticed the girl all touch their emblems, getting no results.

"We look ridiculous," hissed Artemis, the only one that didn't seem used to her outfit. She glared at Kid Flash, who was still watching his suit change from one colour to the other. "Quit touching yourself!" She scoffed. "We need our memories back."

As Robin stifled a laugh at Kid Flash, Megan puts her hands on either side of her head. Next moment, they found themselves within a black room, blue light emanating from what looked like giant glass fragments with images in them. Kid Flash could see one with Batman's ominous glare, Robin, with Kid Flash standing behind her and others.

"I've brought you into my mind to share what I remember so far," Megan started, her form appearing after glowing white. "But I need your help. Together, our broken memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine."

"You want to paw through our private thoughts?" Artemis snapped, making Kid Flash wonder why she was so hostile.

"I have no wish to intrude…" Megan said timidly.

"You need to hack our minds to find out what happened to us," rationalized Robin, calming her best friend unknowingly with her usually calculating mind. "Got it!"

"My brains all yours!" Kid Flash promised, ignoring Artemis' glare as he pretended to tip his imaginary hat. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or underwhelm you," countered Robin with a grin. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever whelmed?"

Artemis still looked hesitant, making Kid Flash take her hand to sooth her. "Last six months only and only what you need."

Megan nodded, raising her hands. They watched as three glowing hands protruded from her head and touched their skulls, sending shivers down Kid Flash's spin.

They first went into Robin's mind, Batman standing in a room that Kid Flash didn't recognize.

_"Watchtower detected immense power surges in the Bialyan desert." A holographic map appeared. "Spectral analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that site, what landed there."_

_The image in the holograph changed to a foreboding looking woman. "Bialya is a rogue state ruled by Queen Bee and not a member of the League's UN charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times. You'll land at Carrack on the Bialyan border, two clicks from the hot zone."_

The scene changed to the desert, the boy Kid Flash had seen before was carrying the analysis computer out of a ship.

"_All clear," Robin assured after using her holographic computer to survey the area._

They left Robin's mind, entering Kid Flash's. He could feel everything he had experienced the first time, like the sand as he crawled up a sand dune with Artemis and Robin, and the way Robin lowered her breathing to silence it.

"_The Bialyans hold this site," Artemis pointed out as they looked down at the tent below._

_Back at their camp, they heard a voice instruct Superboy what to do with the equipment._

"_Set up here."_

They left Kid Flash's mind and entered Artemis, whose reluctance was obvious through the mental like.

"_We'll be up and running in no time," Robin informed, typing at the computer mainframe with Kid Flash standing behind her, looking over her shoulder._

"_Jackpot," Kid Flash cheered, "This site is lousy with zeta beam radiation."_

"_Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent," Robin added without missing a beat._

"_I'll check it out in camouflage mode," offered Megan._

"_Good idea," agreed the unknown person. "Go."_

As they retreated from Artemis's mind and entered Megan's, Kid Flash couldn't help but wonder who the other person was since they sounded familiar.

"_Careful," grumbled Superboy in what appeared to be a caring voice._

"_And maintain telepathic contact," instructed the person again._

_Megan looked over at the person who was standing with the rest of the team._

"_I will Aqualad"_

With a gasp from Megan, they were pulled from the mind link.

"Aqualad!" they all yelped.

"Where is he? What happened next?" demanded Robin as Kid Flash quickly let go of Artemis' hand, remembering who she was.

"I don't know. That's the last thing I… we remember," Megan rambled, slightly hysterical.

"Man, we landed twenty-four hours ago," Kid Flash realized, rubbing the back of his head, "If Kaldurs been wondering the desert that long… well, that's not good for a guy with gills." He didn't want to point out the high possibility that their friend and ally was no more.

"Now that I know to look for him," Robin started, giving Kid Flash hope. She opened her holographic computer. "He's close! But his not moving." She quickly started heading in the direction of the dot on the computer.

Kid Flash caught up with her, walking beside her. He now remembered why that day had been important to him but he was hesitant to mention it. It was a somewhat stupid, sentimental reason. He ignored these thoughts when he noticed the frown on Robin's face that he could tell had little to do with Aqualad's predicament.

"What's wrong?"

"I feel like I'm forgetting something I shouldn't be," admitted Robin, looking sideways at Kid Flash. "Most of my memories are coming back, cut there seems to still be something missing."

"I can understand that. Bits and pieces are still missing but I'm sure if it was important, you'd remember."

"Yeah." Robin turned back to the computer before adjusting her direction more to the left. "That's what Daddy always says. Did you work out why you thought me giving you a burger was important, or did it have extra pickles?"

"It did," Kid Flash admitted, trying to ignore the way Artemis and Megan were listening in on the conversation. He had to remind himself that they were team mates and that they were privileged to somewhat private information as a form of trust. "But that wasn't the reason… it was actually four years since you had became Robin. Which means four years since I… we almost lost you. I did tell you but it's alright if you don't remember. Like I said, must not have been important." He waved it off, feeling stupid, which wasn't helped by him stumbling from tiredness.

Robin chuckled. "Kid Idiot, of course I remember!" She slipped her arm around his waist, cuddling into his side, the holographic computer still in front of them showing that they were drawing closer to Aqualad. "You made me a cupcake. It was the only one you didn't burn."

"So I'm not that great at cooking. I was always better at eating." Next moment he saw a small energy bar in front of his face.

"I always pack one of these when on missions with you," Robin explained as her friend took the food. "I know it won't do much when you're in this state but it might stop you from passing out." Robin let him go before jogging forward. "He's just over here!" They all followed her quickly around a rock, finding the white haired Atlantian lying on the sand, muttering to himself in his native language.

Megan ran forward, kneeling beside him and cradling his head. "I can't restore his memories in this state."

"He needs immediate rehydration. Call the bio ship," instructed Robin, her hands on her hips.

"It's out of range." Megan looked up at Kid Flash. "But you can get him there fast."

"He's too heavy and I'm too low on fuel. At the moment, I couldn't even carry her." He thrusted a thumb in Artemis' direction, ignoring the glare she gave him. He couldn't understand why she was annoyed; it wasn't like he called her fat, if anything the opposite. Though, he had noticed that she glared at him often.

The blonde woman scoffed as though the situation was both obvious and frustrating. "Why not just levitate him back?"

Megan shook her head. "I can't. I have to find Superboy. Six months ago he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can save him."

"Superboy's indestructible," Kid Flash reminded, though he could tell that Megan was close with Superboy and if his best friend was in the same situation, he wouldn't care about anything else but her safety. At the same time, he knew that Robin would beat him up for leaving someone else uncared for. "Just ask those tanks. It's Aqualad who needs your help. Like now."

He watched as Megan cringed in pain, grabbing her head. Kid Flash couldn't tell if it was emotional pain, physical pain or a physic martian thing he didn't understand.

"No!" she yelped, jumping up and ignoring the way Aqualad hit the sand. "Superboy's in pain. I can't wait." She took off, flying through the air.

"We still don't know what erased our memories," Robin yelled after her. "It could happen again." When she realized that the green girl was not coming back, she sighed. "Batman is not going to be happy."

"Why do you do that?" Artemis asked in an annoyed voice.

Robin looked at the archer in confusion before turning away. "I have no idea what you're on about, but since I don't have a stretcher in my belt, we need to find something to make one with. I think the soldiers who tried to ambush me had blankets over them for the sand."

"I meant swopping from Batman to 'Daddy'," Artemis explained, spitting out the last word.

"Because you all know him as Batman, so sometimes I think of calling him by that but I know him as Daddy." The softest smile appeared on Robin's face, something Kid Flash was used to when she was talking of the man who took her in and never treated her anything less than his own.

"I'll go get the blankets and try and find some logs or something," Kid Flash said, touching Robin's elbow in a silent insurance that he would be back, with his memory still intact. With that, he ran off.

"But why Daddy instead of dad?" Artemis snapped, as though it was a personal issue.

"Because he is my Daddy. On occasions I'll call him Dad like most girls our age, but there is a difference between a Daddy and a Dad in my mind. A Dad is your male parent, the guy who gets mad at your boyfriend, smiles proudly at your graduation and is," she pondered for the word, "flawed. A Daddy isn't. A Daddy is a knight. He's the man who scares away the monsters at night, who fights against the world and wins, who will always get rid of your nightmares, guides you between right and wrong, and defend you with every breath he takes. Most girls learn that their fathers' can't do that, but my Daddy can! So until _I_ die, Batman is my Daddy." She said the last statement with a strong voice, making it clear to Artemis that she could not change Robin's mind.

Just then, Kid Flash appeared next to Robin. "We got lucky! Found the blankets and I have no idea what these poles were for, but they will work well for our stretcher." He dumped the items onto the sand before looking up at Robin. "Got anything to put this together?"

"Of course!" Robin grinned, kneeling down and setting to work with the red head.

It wasn't long before they had a working stretcher and Aqualad placed on it. Artemis and Kid Flash were in charge of pulling the stretcher whilst Robin kept an eye on her holographic computer to make sure the coast was clear. They had been pulling him for about twenty minutes before Robin noticed something.

"Quick, over there." She led them behind a large rock.

Aqualad started mumbling again, risking their position and making Artemis try and sooth him. "Shh, Kaldur, quiet now."

Robin looked over the rocks, noticing the large amount of enemies they would have to face. All of who had guns. "Can't risk a firefight with Aqualad K. like this," said Robin once she was crouched next to Kid Flash again.

The speedster panted. "It's not just him, I'm way out of juice."

As Artemis checked her quiver, Robin got an idea and slinked off in the shadows. "And I'm almost out of arrows."

Kid Flash and Artemis turned to Robin to see if she had any ideas, only to notice that she was gone.

"I forgot how much I hate it when she does the ninja thing." That reminded him of something else. "Hey, you never said why your dad would want you to," he made a cutting motion in front of his neck, "me!"

Artemis looked uncomfortable. "I got confused by um, some old movie I watched about a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend cause he was part of a rival ninja clan," she rushed to say.

"Sooo," Kid Flash started, deciding to tease her. "I'm your ninja boyfriend, ha?"

"I. Was. Confused," Artemis grounded out, "Amnesia, remember? Forgot how truly annoying you are."

"Oh, like you're the goddess of congeniality!" snapped Kid Flash.

A voice from behind him made him jump. "Geez, get a room you two."

"Dude, where were you?" Kid Flash felt relieved to see Robin hadn't been seen even though he knew the girl was never seen.

Robin smirked. "I was breaking radio silence." She looked over at the soldiers before ducking down, making sure they couldn't see her. Next moment, Robin's signature laugh rang out on a loop. They waited as the soldiers went towards the noise and a cloud of sand appeared. "That's our queue. Move!"

They grabbed Aqualad and ran out from behind the rock, taking a longer route to the Bio Ship. Thankfully it wasn't far away and soon they were pulling Aqualad up the ramp. Artemis went about setting up an IV as Robin and Kid Flash moved the Atlantian from the stretcher onto a secure medical bed. They placed the IV in his arm as he continued to mutter, too exhausted to move.

"It's alright, Aqualad, you'll be better soon," assured Robin, not even sure Aqualad could hear her. Robin then moved off to the main controls to relocate the ship closer to Megan and Superboy and to pick up the surveillance equipment. "KF, keep an eye on the radar for any soldiers."

Artemis wet a cloth and started dabbing at Aqualad's face, hoping it will help.

"Hey, everybody, I got Superboy," Megan's voice rang in their heads. "He's back to normal and we're on our way."

Aqualad jumped up, looking surprised and frightened. "Who are you? And how did you get inside my head?" he asked Artemis who pushed him back into a lying position.

"Hello, Megan, Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something."

"Ah, man, me too!" remembered Kid Flash, speaking through the telepathic link. "I forgot to get a souvenir from the mission."

"Don't worry," assured Megan. "Got the souvenir thing covered."

"Okay," Robin said slowly, choosing to focus on the mission. "We're heading towards the equipment we left out. Meet us there." She stopped and turned to Kid Flash, speaking out loud. "I still can't remember what I forgot."

"Like I said: must not be important." Kid Flash frowned, looking around the Bio Ship. "Is it just me or are we flying slower than usual."

"Yeah. It could just be because I'm not used to flying it, or it didn't like staying in the heat for over twenty-four hours." Once she had landed, she moved out of the pilot's seat into her usual one, curling up.

Kid Flash walked over to her, crouching down and ignoring the sound of Artemis trying to explain things to Aqualad. "You okay?"

Robin nodded before sighing. "Tired, mainly, and…" she lowered her voice, making Kid Flash move closer, "When my memory was gone, I forgot how dad's been treating me. It hasn't gotten much better. He spends most of his time at work or on missions. Do you think his ignoring me?"

"Definitely not." Kid Flash put his hands on Robin's arms, rubbing them to try and calm her. "He's probably trying to give you space so that you rely on the team more, but he's not used to having to share you. I know if you had another best friend on the team I wouldn't want to share you."

He watched as Robin smiled before lunging towards him. He caught her but had little strength to stay on his feet, and instead fell backwards. Landing with a slight thump, he looked up at Robin, whose hair was falling around her face as she chuckled. "Not very smooth, huh?" He pushed himself up with one arm, wrapping the other around Robin's shoulder.

"So underwhelmed," Robin taunted, returning the hug. "But thanks, KF."

"Well you two stop messing around and realize we're still on a mission?" Artemis snapped.

The two pulled away, Robin still sitting on Kid Flash' lap. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "We're cloaked and will be alerted to anyone coming near." There was a beeping sound. "Like now."

"We're here," Megan said in their heads, making Robin get up to open the back of the Bio Ship.

Megan flew in, Superboy close behind carrying the equipment. Once he had set it down with a resounding thud, a large, metal ball rolled in.

"This is our souvenir," he explained, patting the ball as Megan focused on restoring Aqualad's memory.

"What is it?" Kid Flash asked, tilting his head to the side from his place on the ground.

"No idea," admitted the clone. "But it helped me."

"I like it already," Robin said, moving back towards her chair, only for her to trip on her friend's leg and land next to him.

"When did you wake up from having your memory erased?" Kid Flash grasped Robin's shoulder's looking at her tired face.

"Around three in the morning. I had somehow ended up at the top of a cliff."

"Get some sleep," commented Aqualad, now sitting up on the bed, IV still attached.

Robin nodded, standing up and sitting back in her chair, curling up. Although her mask hid her eyes, it was obvious she had her eyes closed.

Kid Flash got up from the floor; taking a seat as well as Megan started to fly the Bio Ship. She informed him that his hunch was right, the ship didn't like being in the sun for so long, meaning it was flying a little slower than usual. At the rate they were going at, they wouldn't be home until around five at night.

Their calculations were correct, since they returned home at nine passed five at night. It took them an hour to explain to Batman what took them so long to finish the mission, since they were meant to have returned home by the 4th in the afternoon, instead it was the 5th. He understood when they explained everything to him and gave them the rest of the night off. He looked at Robin when he said such a thing before he swept from the room, taking the zetatube back to the cave.

"What to play some video games?" Wally asked, noticing that Robin was freshly awoken. "I don't think anyone would mind if we ate dinner in the lounge room."

"Sure," Robin agreed, going into the lounge room and setting up the system whilst Wally went to the kitchen to dish out their dinner. Black Canary had been nice enough to cook for them. Robin still hadn't worked out what she had forgotten but as time ticked by, it seemed to become more urgent to discover what it was she was still missing.

It was seven-thirty at night and Robin was just about to overtake Wally in the racing game they were playing, when she gasped, forgetting about the race. She didn't bother to notice what her friend had won and instead jumped to her feet.

"I can't believe I forgot!" She ran from the room, going straight to the zetatubes.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alfred pulled up in front of the moderate, brick house. He cut the engine and watched as Riley took her seatbelt off, jumping out of the car. She followed the stone path around the side of the house, locating the front door. A light turned on at her presence, blinding her for a moment as she knocked on the door.

She looked around as she waited for the door to be answered. The black car she had appeared in was out of view but she could see the still empty street. Turning back to the door at the sound of the latched being turned, she was greeted by an older man with short cut, brown hair and grey-blue eyes.

"Hello, is Ashton here?" Riley asked, presuming this was his father, for they shared the same hair colour, the same lanky but solid build and same nose. "Tell him it's Riley Grayson."

"Hang on," instructed the man, turning to look into what Riley assumed was the main room. "Ashton, Riley's here."

He moved from the doorway, only to be replaced moments later by his son, who looked uncertain about the girl's presence. He gave her a tight smile, not meeting her eye.

"I am so, so, sorry, Ashton," Riley started. "There is no excuse. It slipped my mind. I'm really sorry. I was looking forward to our date."

Ashton sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Barbara told me that you get busy working with your guardians in his office. I figured that was what happened. At least you made it to two out of three dates."

Riley faltered for a moment. She didn't think he talked to her best female friend, though she did tell Barbara about working at her dad's 'office'. "You talk to Barbs? My Barbs?"

"On occasions." Ashton shrugged before giving an easy smile and putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad you came to see me in person." He stepped forward, talking his hands out of his pockets and putting them on Riley's waist. He then leant forward, kissing her. When he pulled back, he had a smile on his face but he quickly frowned. "I should have asked you before taking your first kiss."

"Umm," Riley blushed, chewing her lip. "That wasn't my first kiss… or my second. Sorry. I was kissed by a boy in the circus when I was seven, and last year, when I was giving my friend a present, I went to kiss his cheek and he accidently turned his head. That one was weird."

"That Wally guy?" Ashton asked, his shoulders tightening.

"No, Roy. He's eighteen. Like I said, it was an accident."

Ashton chuckled. "I can live with that." He kissed her again, lingering this time. "I have to wash the dishes, my night to do them. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay." Riley stepped away, pulling her jacket closed for warmth. "Bye." She made her way back down the path, spotting the Wayne car in the same spot. Opening the passenger door, she got in and put her seat belt on.

"Do you wish to stay at the manor tonight, Miss Riley, or are you returning to your friends?" Alfred asked as he pulled off the curb.

"I might see if Daddy wants to watch a movie," mused the girl. "Do you want to join?"

"No, I have a desire to read tonight, but I will make you both popcorn and my special coco."

"Yes," cheered Riley. "Daddy won't be able to say no with offers of your special coco."


	10. Tension Builds

A knock resounded off of the door, making the occupant of the room look up from his paperwork and instruct the person to come in. The door opened, allowing Riley to slip into her father's study. She walked up to his desk, her hands clasped in front of her as she observed her father, who had returned to his paperwork upon seeing who it was.

"Hi, Daddy," she started, trying to catch his eye. "I was thinking about watching a movie, and Alfred is making coco. I was thinking 'The Addams Family'. It's one of your favourites. Do you want to join?"

"I'm busy at the moment," Bruce grumbled, raising his dark eyes to his daughter's blue for only a moment. That short time was enough for him to see the flicker of pain. "But I'll be down soon."

Riley smiled widely, running around the desk and hugging her father around the shoulders. "I'll set everything up so we can just press play when you come down." With that, she ran from the room, stopping only to close the door. She took the steps two at a time, jumping the last three with an elegant leap, running to the sitting room. Locating the movie, she put it into the player and set the TV to DVD as Alfred walked into the room.

She looked over to the elderly man, noticing the happy smile on his face. "Coco!" she exclaimed, jumping up and holding out her hands to take the tray for him.

He refused, placing the tray on the coffee table himself. The tray held two cups of freshly made hot coco, a small bowl of mini marshmallows and a bowl full of popcorn, large enough to make Wally's mouth water. "I see that Master Bruce has agreed to watch a movie with you," Alfred noted.

"Yep." Riley sat down on the couch, putting marshmallows in her father's coco. He liked the marshmallows melted into his drink whilst she liked them still mainly whole. As she did so, her phone started to ring. "Enjoy your book."

"I will." Alfred smiled knowingly at her when she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Say hello to Master Wallace for me and if I were you, I would refrain from mentioning the kiss to he or Master Bruce."

Riley looked at him with a mixture of shock, amusement and embarrassment as she pressed the answer button on her phone. "Hey, Wally, Agent A said hello too."

"_Where'd you run off to?" Wally asked, sounding slightly worried._

"I remembered what I forgot…"

"_Which was?"_

"A date," she relented. "I feel horrible for forgetting." She hugged Professor Smooshy to her chest as she listened to Wally chuckle.

"_You know it's not your fault your memory was whipped and Megan probably made sure to stay away from your personal life more than the rest of us. How'd he take it?"_

Riley bit her lip, trying not to grin. "Fairly well. He's gonna call me tomorrow."

"_Well that's good but you owe me a rematch. I know I would have won, because I'm just that good, but I want to win when you aren't distracted," taunted Wally. Riley could practically hear his grin._

"In your dreams, Kid Delusional. I'm gonna leave you in the digitally created dust." Riley blew on her coco before taking a sip. "So what have you got planned for tonight?"

"_Nothing much, really. I'm just reading through a science book and surfing the net. What about you? Hacking into the Pentagon or something?"_

"Been there, done that," joked the Girl Wonder. "Daddy and I are going to watch a movie together, once he finishes his paperwork. Shouldn't take him to long."

"_Well I should let you go then. See ya, __Riley__, enjoy your night," Wally said, emphasizing her name._

"Bye, Wally, don't let your head explode." She hung up, turning off her phone and putting it on the table, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth after she did so. She waited patiently for her father, watching the main screen of the movie and trying not to fidget. It was easy to occupy her time when she started playing with Professor Smooshy.

Hours later, Bruce walked down the staircase, planning to duck into the kitchen for a snack when he noticed the light emanating from the sitting room. With dread, he remembered who was in there. Reaching the doorway, he noticed that the movie was still on the play screen. He walked deeper, into the room, coming around the lounge to find a full, cold cup of coco sitting on a tray, marshmallows melting within the liquid, and a half drank cup sitting at the other end of the table. The bowl of marshmallows and the bowl of popcorn seemed almost untouched. After observing these things, he reluctantly turned to the couch, finding his daughter asleep, her stuffed gorilla tucked under her arm and her head on the armrest in what looked to be an uncomfortable position, as though she had fallen sideways.

"You forgot?" snapped a voice with a British accent.

Bruce whipped around, looking at Alfred with guilt. "I've been swamped with work and missions," defended the man. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I think that is what is saddest, _Mr. Wayne_," Alfred coldly stated, narrowing his eyes as he used the more formal version of Bruce's name. "You forgot your own daughter. You didn't even spare her a thought long enough to mistreat her. You've just pushed her aside all together."

"No!" roared Bruce, only for Riley to shift in her sleep at the noise. He lowered his voice to a hiss, as not to wake her. "I would never do that. I love her but I have to focus on my work or I will constantly want to guard her when she's with the team."

"I am simply telling you one way she might see your neglect," remarked Alfred, not even flinching at Bruce's reaction. "You should focus on being a father, for they are the heroes that are always valued, no matter what." With that, he left the room, leaving his young master to ponder his words.

Bruce sighed, knowing he was right. Riley would stand by him, even if the world turned on him. He turned off the television and picked up his daughter, carrying her to room and putting her to bed. He had done so numerous times, making Riley not even wake.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing her forehead, "but it's the only way to stop you from getting mad at me." He left the room with silent steps, closing the door.

"Alright, I didn't really pay attention in that class but I'm pretty sure I heard Mrs Miller say something about group work," admitted Barbara, texting on her phone as she walked with Riley.

"Yes," Riley confirmed, zipping up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "We're in groups of two, we have to analyses a poem and explain it to the class in two weeks. And don't worry, you're with me." She waited for Barbara to smile before pointing something out. "Though, if you weren't texting all the way through class, you would know this."

"Blame your boyfriend," retorted the red head, putting her phone away. "He was asking if I knew if you were free this weekend. Why doesn't he just ask you?"

Riley frowned, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "He did, I just didn't answer cause I was in class. It's weird he texts you though."

Barbara shrugged. "He just wanted to spend time with you. You have been busy lately: working with your dad more, hanging out with me, hanging out with Wally, homework. I understand it's hard but maybe you should devote more time to Ashton and less time to Wally and I."

Riley thought about it. She realized that Barbara had a point, people were always saying relationships were hard, but they would be harder if she didn't try. Unfortunately, Wally was the only one making her feel better about her father, since Barbara thought Riley was spending _more_ time then before. She would have to work something out though, so that Ashton didn't feel abandoned. "I'll work on it."

Barbara clapped her hands cheerfully. "Good, now we should sort out this poem thing, that way it's done early."

With a roll of her eyes at her friend's behavior, she agreed, going over what the teacher told them they had to do. They found a spot to sit in the cafeteria to finish their discussion, Ashton coming up to them as they did.

"Hey," he said, moving towards Riley to get a kiss. He waited until she turned her head towards him before placing his lips on her skin. "How was English?"

"Pretty good. Luckily _one_ of us were listening, since we're paired together for an assignment." She looked pointedly at Barbara, but she also hoped that Ashton picked up on the hint about texting in class. She had to focus on her classes so that she didn't fall behind and get kicked off the team.

"Does this mean you're busy Friday night?" Ashton looked at her with disappointment, clearly not picking up on her hint. "I was hoping we could go to the movies. I heard you talking about that new romance one."

Riley looked at Barbara, who was frowning in confusion, before the black haired girl decided to answer. "At the moment my schedule is free that day."

"Excellent." He stood up. "I have to get a book out of the library before class. I'll see you in math." He leant over and kissed Riley's cheek before rushing from the room.

"He obviously didn't realize I was making fun of that movie," Riley stated, looking surprised.

"How can he not know? He's been dating you long enough that he should know you prefer action movies over everything else." Barbara shook her head before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Where are you going?"

Riley stopped, her foot hovering over the second last step. She pulled her foot back, before turning to look at her father. Meeting the dark gaze of one of the most powerful men in Gotham, she sighed, rolling her eyes. She had tried to tell her father where she was going yesterday, to make sure that she could go. He had told her that he was too busy to talk and that she should spend time with the team.

"I'm going to the movies with Ashton," she told him plainly, turning back around and walking down the stairs. "I'll be home in time for dinner. Even though you probably won't be there." Although she whispered the last part, she had no doubt that her father still heard it.

She walked outside where Alfred was waiting to drive her to the movies. He opened the door for her and smiled at her encouragingly before closing the door and walking around the driver's side. Admittedly, she wasn't overly thrilled to go see the movie, since it was one she had had no desire to see, but Ashton seemed excited so she kept silent. When she got the cinema, she said goodbye to Alfred and found Ashton, who was waiting inside for her. Riley smiled at him, giving him a hug when she drew near.

"I'll buy the tickets and you can buy the popcorn and drinks," Ashton instructed, making Riley frowned.

"Um, sure," Riley muttered, getting in the line. The dark haired girl looked over at her boyfriend, who grinned happily at her. Returning the expression, she tried to find a way to look forward to the movie. One of the first things that came to mind was that she got to spend some time with Ashton; her second thought was that Wally would find it hilarious to hear she saw the movie. They could have a decent laugh.

The theatre was full of couples, hugging, kissing, cuddling, and most of the boys looking as though they were simply there for their girlfriend. Riley tried not to laugh at the irony of the situation, with her and Ashton being the opposite. Half an hour into the movie, she was being glared at by the girl sitting two seats away, simply because she was finding the cliché lines within the movies funny. Laughing was a natural reaction, so it wasn't her fault. She did try to bite her lip to try and stop it, but it didn't seem to work.

Ashton chuckled when Riley laughed hardest, but it was clear he didn't quite understand what she found so funny about the movie he was clearly enjoying. As they left, Ashton slung his arm over Riley's shoulder.

"So you enjoyed the movie," he commented, clearly trying to work out why she was laughing.

"Yeah. I usually don't watch romances, but I do find them funny," she admitted, deciding that she should tell the truth encase he dragged her to any more of them.

"Well I'm glad you liked it, even if it wasn't in the usual way." Ashton pulled her close, ignoring the curl that fell in front of his eye. He looked down at her with a caring smile. "I'll have to remember you don't like romance movies. You do know that you can always suggest a date, don't you?"

"Well, on Monday, after school, we could go to the arcade and play some of the games there. You could try and win me a toy. I like plushies." Riley put her arms around Ashton's neck. It hit her that Ashton did deserve her time, otherwise the relationship would not last nor would either of them work out if it should last. She initially agreed to go out with him because she believed he was a sweet gentleman and so far he had yet to prove her wrong, though she may have came out as high maintenance since it was so hard to organize a date with her.

"Sounds like a plan." Ashton winked, making Riley's heart jump ever so slightly.

With a blush, Riley rose up the distance of their height and kissed him. "Sounds more like a date."

"Bit of a cliché line," Ashton remarked, his face still close to hers.

"Thought you might like it." She kissed him again. They pulled apart when her phone buzzed. With an apologetic look, and ignoring the frustrated sigh from Ashton, she answered it. "Hi, Daddy."

"Roy's in Gotham, I think you should help him out." Bruce used an even voice, not portraying his feelings. It was clearly Robin business though. "Should I leave it to you or should I deal with it."

"No, I will," Riley practically yelped, not wanting her father to take her chance to speak with Speedy, or Red Arrow as he was going by now. She went to say goodbye before realizing that her father had already hung up. Turning to Ashton, she kissed him again. "I have to go, but I'm definitely leaving my Monday free for you."

"Alright," he stepped away from her, keeping a hold of her hand though. "Call me when you're done dealing with your adoptive guardian." With a squeeze of her hand, he let it go and started walking to the bus stop. "See ya."

Robin ran across the roof, jumping the small distant between the roof she was on and the next one. She stuck to the shadows, knowing no one could see her unless they were Batman. Red Arrow was in sight, fighting what looked to be thieves who were attempting to break into the bank they were standing atop. Although Red Arrow was skilled in fighting, it seemed that he was still not completely used to the solo act and half expected Green Arrow to have his back, which was resulting in him getting overwhelmed.

She easily approached them, making no sound and took two down before they even realized another hero was there. Red Arrow spared her a glance before pulling his back to her. Without needing any more cues, she put her back to his, pulling out two night sticks. She blocked the punch from one thug, kicking him in his exposed ribs, sending him flying. She then swung at another man, knocking him unconscious as the man with the now bruised ribs staggered to his feet.

The groan he emanated reached her ears, making her wonder if he would retreat. With a sharp intake of breath, he straightened up and charged, which was dumb. She easily jumped, landing on his back heavily, eliciting a yelp from him.

In very little time, the two had overpowered the thieves, leaving them tied up on the cold cement roof. After alerting the police to their location, the two decided to move to another rooftop. Once hidden from any possible enemies, Robin turned to Red Arrow with a hard look.

"So, done with the solo act yet? Or am I going to have to retrieve your body from somewhere in Gotham in the future?" Her anger towards Batman may have been fueling some of her frustration towards Red Arrow but she was becoming tired of losing people she cared about. There was nothing she could see that could be causing it and she certainly hoped it was not her own doing, though it seemed as though she was the common element.

"I didn't need your help!" Red Arrow snapped, crossing his arms and frowning, looking similar to an overgrown toddler.

"Really? Because you were getting your ass handed to you before I appeared. Have you forgotten all your training? You're an archer; long distance is your thing, not up close."

"You're a child!" spat the man before her. "What would you know?"

Robin chuckled darkly, nothing like the cheeky one she used to unnerve enemies. She saw Red Arrow shiver in fear and she gave him a glare worthy of Batman. "Do not forget, _Speedy_, that you had been a hero for a whole of one week before I came around and you had only taken on unarmed shoplifters and people who steal old ladies handbags. I have been taking down worse men for longer then you. I have trained under the most feared man from the age of seven in the most dangerous city and I know _every last one of your weaknesses_." Robin made sure to say the last part slowly and with purpose, pronouncing ever word so that he did not miss one. She was tired of the way he had been treating the people he had once classed as friends and allies. He suddenly found himself superior, simply because he was a few years older than them, but had had no more training. "There's a little tip: if you want to get into the Justice League so badly, stop acting alone, because the League is a team and functions as such. They will not take in a hero who is out for his own. Just some _friendly_ advice!"

With that said, she turned, her cap whipping out behind her. Connecting a grappling hook to one of the nearby lamp posts, she swung off the roof and disappeared into the shadows.

_**Get to see more Ashton and Riley, as well as Robin getting fed up. I probably won't be able to update for a while since the semester at uni is coming to a close, which means exams and prac but I will do my best.**_


	11. Charity Case

The moment she had changed out of her Robin outfit and had a shower she picked up her phone to call Wally, still feeling frustrated. Unfortunately, before she could select Wally's name on her contact list, her phone started ringing, Ashton's name flashing on screen. After a moment of surprise she answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Hey, so you're done with your guardian's thing?" Ashton's voice drifted through the phone, sounding much more confident then Riley's which was filled with exhaustion and annoyance.

"My dad had actually been telling me of a friend who was in trouble. He's been going through a bit of a difficult time and Wally and I have been trying to remind him we're still his friends." She sighed, sitting on her bed and trying not to think over the events of the night. The only one she wanted to repeat it to was Wally.

"So how did that go?" Ashton asked after a pause.

"Not well," Riley said shortly, trying to convey how little she wished to talk about it. When such a thing occurred, even her best friends had trouble making her talk.

"What happened?"

She tried not to groan at the fact that he failed to realize what her tone meant. "I don't really want to talk about it." There was a knock on her door. "Hang on, Ashton." She covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Yeah?"

There was a click of the door handle before the door was pushed open, her father's frame revealing itself. He gave her an even look before opening his mouth. "How was it?"

She held up a finger, telling him silently to wait. Putting the phone back to her ear, she looked away from her father. "Ashton, that's my dad, I have to go."

"Why? Does your guardian want to know what happened? Cause if you don't want to tell him you should tell him to leave."

His tone confused her, since it seemed to have an underlying aggression, though that could have been jealousy due to her father getting answers and him not.

"No, it's fine. Bye."

"Bye."

She pressed the end button, dropping her hands into her lap before looking at her father who was leaning against the doorframe casually. Riley always liked when he did such things, for it was only in the privacy of their home that he did. In the files in her mind that she had made labeled Dad, Bruce Wayne, and Batman, these little quirks always came under dad. "We took down some thieves and then got into an argument. Not in front of the thieves though. It's just frustrating having him act so out of character and treat us so badly. I never thought he looked down upon me because of my age but apparently he does."

Bruce sighed and moved into the room, crouching in front of her, covering her hands with his. "Roy is just trying to be independent and valued, without realizing he could have that whilst still having his friends. I know we can be overprotective, but we've been doing this a lot longer, and we've seen a lot of bad things that we don't want you all to deal with." He looked down at their hands, giving hers a slight squeeze. "When I told the others I was training a child to be my sidekick, they thought I was being irresponsible, but when Wally nearly blew himself up turning himself into a speedster, and Oliver realized he could either throw Roy in gaol one day or train him to be a hero, they started to understand that having you around reminded me why I became a hero."

Riley tried to fight her smile, though she failed, and instead looked down to hide it. When her father squeezed her hand again, she raised her eyes to his.

"I want you to patrol with me on Monday."

"The bad guys giving you trouble?" Riley joked. "Knew I was the talent in the team."

"You may have natural talent but I'm still number one," Bruce retorted with a cheeky smirk, rising to his full height.

"We'll see. I have plans in the afternoon but I'll be back just after dinner." Riley picked her phone back up as her father walked towards the door. "Night, Daddy."

"Good night, Riley, don't stay on the phone with Wally for too long." He closed the door behind him with a soft click before Riley pressed the call button, putting the phone to her ear.

It took Wally longer than usual to answer, making Riley figure he didn't hear it at first. She laid down on her side, the ear her mobile was pressed to facing up.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wally asked once he had answered.

"Saw Roy and he's horrible." She could feel her anger growing again. "He thinks he's so much better than us simply because he's gone solo, but I had to save his ass from some thieves. THIEVES!"

"Riley, calm down."

It was uncommon for Wally to say her first name, since Bruce still didn't know Riley had told him her identity. The use of it seemed to stun her enough to make her take a deep, calming breath.

"He'll come around eventually, and until then, the League will keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. In the mean time, we can continue to be an awesome team; learning to do exactly what the League does, and proving to them that we can do it." Wally spoke with such confidence that Riley had no trouble believing him.

"I suppose you're right," she said with a tired sigh, her eyes growing heavy. She yawned loudly, alerting her friend to her state.

"You should get some sleep."

"I don't want to," Riley admitted, her pillow seeming to become softer, more welcoming. "I'm still annoyed!"

"I'll keep talking to you until you calm down," assured the man on the other line. "Didn't you say something about the movies today? What did you go see?"

"That new romance. Ashton wanted to see it. it was pretty funny, though I don't think it was meant to be a comedy."

Wally gave a laugh. "Doesn't he know that you will only laugh at movies like that?"

"He does now." Riley chuckled before remembering something that confused her. "For some reason Ashton keeps referring to my dad as my guardian. That's technically true, since we don't share blood, but his my dad still."

There was a pause as though Wally was contemplating his answer. "Maybe he's met other adopted kids who hate their guardians being referred to as their dad, so he's gotten into the habit of saying it."

"Maybe," she agreed with doubt. "It just seems weird that after I say 'dad', he says 'guardian'."

"I'm sure it's nothing. And at least you know he's not dating you because of who your father is."

"Hmm," Riley muttered, her eyes closed.

"Goodnight, Riley." Wally didn't receive any reply, making it clear that she had calmed down and fallen asleep. He hung up the phone after a pause, assuring himself that she really was sleeping peacefully.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her phone rang loudly, waking her with a jolt. After realizing she was lying on her bed and the noise was coming from her phone that sat next to her, she was able to calm her heartbeat. She spared a glare at the caller ID before answering.

"What?" she grumbled.

"Good morning to you too," replied an unhappy voice. "I thought you'd be happy to get a wake up call from me."

Riley rolled over to look at her bedside clock. "Ashton, it's six-thirty in the morning. No one can be happy this earlier in the morning, even if Santa, the tooth fairy and every other mythical creature called them to tell them they were real."

"Well I figured since your day was free that we could hang out," he explained, ignoring her hostility and using a voice that clearly stated that he thought his idea was great.

"What makes you think I have nothing on today?" Riley muttered, throwing herself back onto her pillow.

"I asked Barbara last night. She said you didn't work with your guardian on the weekends. It's handy having her number, I'm glad I asked for it."

Riley frowned, feeling uncomfortable with the conversation. "Well she's mistaken. I have homework, the gym and work with my daddy." She failed to mention that the 'gym' was being trained by Black Canary with other super heroes and 'work' with her father was secret missions. "Why do you keep asking my friend anyway? You should ask me."

"You're not always reachable," Ashton grumbled, obviously not pleased.

"Sorry but you knew I was a busy person before we started dating." She sighed. "Now, I'm going to get a bit more sleep before I have to do all the stuff I told you. Bye, Ashton."

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later." He hung up, making Riley frown at the phone in confusion before dropping it heavily on her bed side table.

Half and hour later she woke up, ate breakfast and finished her homework before changing into her Robin outfit and taking the zetatube to the Mountain, making sure her phone was off before she went. Training with Black Canary covered most of the same things as usual, such as using your oponants strength against them, except that they were in pairs this time.

It quickly became apparent to everyone that Kid Flash and Robin were used to working together, for they covered each others weaknesses and didn't need to communicate about their strategies. By the time Batman radioed in with a mission they had taken down the other teams and Black Canary, who said she was going to separate them next time, something they groaned about.

The mission turned out to be nothing faulty wiring in a computer system, meaning they returned to the mountain rather quickly and disheartened.

"Boring!" whined Kid Flash, receiving a glare from Artemis. He put his hand on Robin's shoulder, stopping her from walking away. "Aqualad and I want to talk to you."

The three waited for everyone else to leave before the Atlantian spoke in his usual deep tone. "Wally informed me that you spoke with Roy. Any luck?"

Robin sighed, running her fingers through her messy hair. "The exact opposite. We got into an argument after I had to help him take down some thieves. He's going to get himself killed the way his going but he doesn't seem to care and he doesn't want to take my advise because I'm just a child to him. Like help I am!" The anger she had felt the night before was returning, turning her voice into a growl.

"I know how you feel," Aqualad assured. "You know how he sometimes contacts me for information. It feels as though he sees us as his sidekicks as well, but we get respect off our mentors at least."

"Fir now, we hope he comes to his senses, and if the opertunity arises, we talk to him about it," instructed Aqualad before walking off.

"Good luck," Robin scoffed as she pulled out her civillian phone, turning it on. Around the eighteenth of every month, Dean would message her, to check how she was going and to tell her how he was, so she wanted to see if he had yet. When she turned on her phone it instantly started buzzing, alerting her to waiting messages. What she didn't expect, however, was twenty three messages. One was from Dean, two are from Barbara and the other twenty were from Ashton. "What the?"

"What's wrong?" Kid Flash asked, peaking over her shoulder.

"I have twenty messages off my boyfriend even though he knew I was busy all day. He messages and calls me alot and its making me a bit uncomfortable. I can't handle this on top of the crap going on with dad." She sniffled, trying not to think of the strain that had appeared on her and her dads relationship.

Instantly, Kid Flash pushed her hair out of her face with one hand, resting it on the back of her head, the other on the small of her back. She looked up, used to him doing this to her. When she raised her head, he ran the tip of his nose down the length of hers, stopping when the two tips were touching. Robin smiled softly, starting to feel happier. She couldn't explain it, but her Kid Flash had first done that to her, she had laughed, finding it odd. Since then, it had always cheered her up when upset.

"Feeling better?" Kid Flash whispered, his forehead against hers, their noses still touching and his and his breath brushing her lips. When Robin nodded slightly he smiled. "Good. Talk to your boyfriend about giving you some space, and your dad will come around, I promise. You don't need to be a detective to know your dad loves you and would do anything for you."

"You're right," she sighed. "I might go and see if dad's gone on patrol already. Thanks, KF."

Kid Flash hugged her to him, putting his chin on top of her head. "What are friends for?"

Robin moved out of his hold, giving him a small smile. "I'll see you later." She went through the zetatubes, appearing in the Batcave. Looking around, she was able to see that her father was gone, since the Batmobile was also gone. With a sigh, she changed and walked towards the exit, figuring she would read a book or see what Alfred was up to.

Entering into the rest of the house, she smelt baked goods. Following the smell into the kitchen, she found Alfred, in his regular outfit, minus his jacket and plus a white apron. Sitting on a baking tray were freshly made white chocolate chip cookies. She took one off the tray, ignoring the heat it sent up her arm, before turning to the man.

"How long do you think dad will be out for?"

"Commissioner Gordon called him away, so he will probably not be back in the morning." Alfred gave her a look about stealing one of the cookies before turning back to spooning the next lot onto a greased tray.

"Well I might train a bit before dinner," informed Riley, finishing off the cookie. "I promise to have a shower." She knew how much he hated it when Bruce and Riley showed up to dinner covered in sweat.

"Good, but you might want to call Ashton," advised Alfred, looking at Riley as he put the baking tray into the oven. "He has called a number of times. I informed him that you had finished your homework and were either at the gym or working with your father. Why does he call Master Bruce your guardian?"

"I have no idea but he calls way too much." Riley sighed and walked out of the kitchen, heading to the training room.

An hour and a half later, she was stepping out of the bathroom, dressed for dinner. Her father had still not returned, meaning that dinner was just for Alfred and herself. As always when Alfred cooked, dinner was delicious but was interrupted by the phone ringing. Riley went to get up to answer it, so Alfred wouldn't have to, but the dedicated butler wouldn't allow her to. Instead, he rose and answered.

"Hello, Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking." He paused, the man on the other end speaking. "Yes, Miss Riley is here, but she is in the middle of dinner, please call back later. Goodbye." He hung up, coming back to the table and sitting down. "Miss Riley, that was Ashton again. Perhaps you should call him back after dinner."

"I will. He's being a little odd, though I've never had a boyfriend, so it might be normal." She ate some of her mash potato before talking again. "I have a date with him on Monday, why does he need to call me so much when he knows I'm busy."

"I don't know what to tell you, Miss Riley, teenage boys are not my area of expertise and it has been a long time since I was so young myself."

Riley sniggered at the thought of Alfred as a boy. "Thanks anyway, Alfred."

After dinner, she called Ashton, figuring she should talk to him about calling so much. When he answered, he gave her a cheerful greeting. Instead of dealing with small talk first, Riley figured she would confront the problem. "Ashton, you need to stop calling so much. You knew I was busy today and yet you called the house multiple times and sent me numerous messages."

"I just like spending time with you and talking to you, is that so bad?" Ashton snapped.

"No, but I had stuff to do and we already have plans to spend Monday together."

"I bet you don't even realize what Monday is!"

"It's a school say, it's the first working day of the week and it's the 20th," she rattled off, starting to get annoyed.

"Exactly. We would have been dating for a month on Monday."

"And we're spending it together, so can you stop bothering Alfred?"

Ashton sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you on Monday." Without saying goodbye or waiting for a reply, he hung up.

Riley decided not to think about it and instead relax from a long day by reading a book. She went down to the Batcave, like she used to when she was younger, and curled up in her father's large chair, a blanket wrapped around her, and read.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The penguin doll sat securely under her arm as they walked out of the restaurant. It was later then she had anticipated, meaning she had to leave soon if she wanted to go patrolling with her father. Admittedly, Riley was excited to be back with the Dynamic Duo, hoping that her father would snap out of the way he was behaving. She knew it may not work, but she could still hope.

"I still can't get over how good your aim is," Ashton spoke as they walked down the street. "I would have been able to win you that if I had known."

"I play a lot of video games," explained Riley with a careless shrug.

"Yeah, when you're not being paraded around," grumbled the brunette.

"What?" Riley was so surprised that she almost dropped her penguin onto the damp concrete. Luckily she caught it with easy, something she hoped Ashton didn't notice.

"Never mind."

"Alright," Riley agreed, deciding to dismiss it for now. "Well I have to get going. Dad wants to watch some movies with me." She tried to restrain the bounce she felt like doing.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to spend time with him? He's not your real father; he's just some guy who saw an opportunity to look like the good guy." Ashton's voice took on a dark tone as he glared at Riley.

"What are you on about? My daddy loves me."

"Your _daddy_ is dead! Bruce Wayne is just a guy smart enough to realize that adopting an orphan girl would get him popularity. You're not his daughter; you're just a charity case for him to put his name on. He doesn't really care about you, he only spends time with you so that you'll say nice things about him and convince others that he loves you, but when he has his own kids, or when everyone is sick of you, he'll drop you. Why do you want to ditch him for me?"

Riley was stunned, and couldn't seem to react at first. Finally, she took a shaky breath, tears in her eyes. "You don't know him, and I want nothing to do with you." She took a deep breath to prevent herself from crying, and then she narrowed her eyes, glaring at the boy in front of her. "Don't ever speak to me again."

She turned sharply and walked away, heading to only one direction: the zetatubes. Luckily, Riley still had a clear head enough to make sure no one saw her go through them in her civilian clothing. She dug her glasses out of her handbag, putting them on as she walked through Central City. Wally may have known who she was but she was hesitant for him to see her face completely. She always worried that if he got to know Riley Grayson-Wayne, he wouldn't like her as he did Robin.

By the time she was sneaking into the window of the house she wished, tears were running down her face. Although she was distraught, she was still quiet, making Wally jump when she finally spoke.

"Wally," she said, her voice cracking.

He took one look at her before getting off his desk chair and walking over to his friend. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he guided her to his bed, making her sit. He let her cry for some time, sitting next to her and rubbing her back soothingly. Finally, she started settling down, though she was shivering, the room being too cold for her tank-top and skirt.

Wally got up and grabbed one of his jackets, draping it over Robin's shoulders as she started to speak.

"My date didn't go to well," she admitted, looking at the floor. "Instead of enjoying our one month anniversary, we broke up."

"What happened?" Wally asked in a soft voice, leaning against his dresser.

"I broke up with him because he wanted to know where I was all the time. He even got Barb's number so he could call her when I said I was at a friend's. He knew you and her are my best friends. He was making me uncomfortable, I told you that."

"I know you aren't upset like this over breaking up with that guy." When Robin turned her head to avoid his expression, Wally smiled sadly and crouched so he was at her level. "Riley, I know you."

She sighed, pausing a moment before finally opening her mouth. "When I said I was going to spend time with my dad, he got annoyed. He said things like 'why do you want to hang out with him? He's not even your dad. You're just'," Riley choked on her tears before pushing through, "'you're just a charity case for him to put his name on!'" She covered her mouth to try to silence the noise the strain of crying created. "I'm not a charity case, am I?"

Wally couldn't stop the short laugh that erupted from his mouth. When Robin looked at him, tears streaming down from behind her glasses, he hugged her. "Riley, you are one of the only people in the world, and perhaps only teenage I know who could kick the butts of Gotham villains and Superman himself whilst laughing and cracking jokes."

Robin gave a wet laugh, whipping at her water stained cheeks with the back of her hand. "I can't kick Superman's butt."

"Does Batman have kryptonite in his cave?" Wally asked, knowing Batman did to keep it out of the public and encase the Man of Steel was ever put under mind control. Once Robin nodded and mumbled about a vault, he went on. "I bet you know how to break into that vault, therefore, you can kick Superman's butt." He pulled away from her and cupped her face. "Riley, look at me." When she stopped fighting his embrace and instead looked at him, he smiled. "You are not a charity case. Your father doesn't see you as one. You are his pride and joy. Everyone can see he loves you."

"But his been using his Batman voice on me!"

"Maybe there's a reason for that," contemplated the red-head. "Maybe his trying to protect you, or he doesn't realise his doing it. You won't know until you talk to him."

"What if he tells me Ashton was right, that he doesn't love me?" Robin's fear of such an outcome was apparent, making Wally sit next to her again, hugging her to him tightly.

"Then I will kill the Batman," he said, imitating the Joker.

Seemingly not being able to control it, she started giggling, burring her face into his chest, making him fall backwards, lying sideways on the bed.

"How is it you know what to say when I need you to?"

Wally leant over Robin, grabbing the top of his blankets and folding them over Robin, draping his arm over her blanketed waist. "I know you, and it's my job to make sure you're not hurt."

Robin simply hugged him tighter, enjoying his warmth, the smell of popcorn that always followed Wally and his steady heartbeat. It lulled her into a comfortable state, making her drowsy after her crying.

The rumble from Wally's chest as he spoke broke her from her daze. "Are you going to stay the night? I know Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris won't mind."

"No, I should go home. Dad's probably already furious that I bailed on patrol tonight. I'm just going to use your bathroom to wash my face. My make-up has probably gone everywhere." She sat up, the blanket and Wally's jacket falling away.

"You're wearing make-up?" Wally looked at her face, noticing the tell tale signs of light make-up.

"Yes, Kid Idiot, I am a girl, or are you going to say I'm too young, cause that sounds like something dad would say." Although her eyes were covered, it was obvious she was rolling her eyes.

"No," Wally said calmly, "I was going to say, you don't need it."

Robin smiled, biting her lip to try and prevent it from growing before she hugged Wally around the neck. "Have I ever told you how thankful I am that you are my friend?"

The red-head thought for a moment as he wrapped his arms around the girl's small waist. "No, I don't think you have."

"Well I am," she assured before letting go and walking out of the room.

Wally waited for a moment after Robin left the room before getting her phone out of her handbag. By the time she returned he had done what he needed to do and was lying on his bed, waiting for her. When she walked in, he stood up, moving towards her. He didn't need her to say anything to know that she was still upset over what her ex-boyfriend said to her. It wouldn't have been so bad if her father and she hadn't been having problems.

He pushed her hair back with one hand like he had done on the weekend and put his other hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer. He ran the tip of his nose down the bridge of hers, ignoring the bump from the bridge of her glasses. He felt her sigh, the air rushing past his lips as she did.

"Everything will be fine, I promise you." He moved back, handing her his jacket as he did. "Return that later."

"Thanks." Robin put it on before giving him a tight hug and climbing back out the window.

For ten minutes Wally waited in his room, at his uncle and aunts place, which was not easy for a speedster, before walking out into the rest of the house, heading straight for the front door. He didn't bother mentioning to his aunt and uncle that he was leaving, he wasn't particularly in the mood to talk.

He used his speed to get to Gotham city, locating the address he wanted. He slowed down as he drew close, not wanting anyone to notice he was moving faster than human speed. Once facing the door, he knocked hard, waiting for an answer for only a second before knocking again. After the third time, the door finally opened, revealing a boy close to his own age with dark, curly brown hair, and green eyes much like his own.

"Ashton?" he asked simply, fairly certain he knew the answer but wanting to be clear.

"Yes, who are you?"

"Wally, Riley's friend." Without another word, Wally drew back his arm and threw a punch directly into the other teens face, not holding back his strength.

Ashton fell to the floor with a sickening thud but that did not lessen Wally's dark look, even when the boy's father appeared at the door, looking surprised.

"What the hell did you do?" he snapped at Wally, crouching down next to his unconscious son.

"Excuse me, sir," someone spoke from behind Wally. The red head turned to find his uncle standing there with a kind smile on his face. "My nephew is not normally a violent boy but your son caused his best friend some pain today. She came to my house in tears and told Wally the things your son had said to her. They were not pleasant. I would much appreciate it if you didn't press charges on my nephew because then we would have to bring Riley into it and she's been through enough."

"What did he say?" Ashton's father asked, looking worried.

"That her father didn't love her and that she was a charity case," Wally hissed. "He should be glad I only punched him."

"I won't press charges, but get off my property," the father snapped, realising that Wally had every reason to do as he did.

Without any complains, the speedster turned and marched off, his anger not fully released. He knew his uncle was following him, but decided to not be the first one to speak.

"Do you think Riley will be happy you hit her boyfriend?" Barry calmly asked.

"Ex," Wally reminded in a dark voice.

"Right. But do you think she would want you to do what you did?"

He turned, facing his unclear with a serious but somewhat satisfied expression. "I don't think she would have cared. She's too kind to have done it herself or ask me to do it, but if I told her I was going to do it, she wouldn't have stopped me. She would have just told me not to do it on her account."

Barry sighed, running his fingers through his short blond hair. "Can I trust you to return home on your own?"

"Yeah," Wally shrugged. "I did what I wanted, I'm happy to go home and text Riley, make sure she got home safe."

"Alright, tell Iris I'll be home later." With that, Barry walked away, heading in the opposite direction as Wally.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He took a cap once Wally was out of sight, not wanting to run all the way to his destination in civilian clothing. Pressing the buzzer at the gate, he suddenly realised there was a chance that he wouldn't be allowed in. Thankfully, once he said his name to the butler, the gates opened and he was able to walk up the drive to the front door.

He had never actually been to the Wayne Manor before and felt overwhelmed by its sheer stature. Oliver was also a wealth billionaire but his place was a studio apartment, rich on the inside but understated on the outside. Bruce's home was different. The house was old, well designed, but clearly expensive.

Squaring his shoulders, Barry knocked on the hard wood, listening as the noise echoed. The door opened quickly, seeing as they knew he was there by his announcement at the gate. He came face to face with 'Agent A', also known as Alfred.

"Mr. Allen, what can I do for you at this hour?" the man asked politely, moving aside so that the speedster could enter.

"I was hoping to speak with Bruce," he admitted, looking around at the large foyer. "It's about Riley."

"Miss Riley is in bed, though I believe she is texting Master Wallace." He ignored Barry's sniggers when he used Wally's full name. "Master Bruce is in his study. I will take you to him."

Barry followed the butler up the stairs and down a hallway. When they reached the study, he was made to wait outside whilst Alfred announced his presence. Once he had done that, the British man left them alone in the room. Bruce was sitting at his desk, a stack of paperwork in front of him. He was looking at Barry though, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk.

"Alfred said you wanted to talk about Riley. Is everything alright?" He was barely hiding the worry he felt. "She came home late tonight, upset and wearing Wally's jacket. I'm guessing she went to your house when something happened with her, from what I understand, now ex-boyfriend."

"I overheard her talking to Wally about how you were pushing her away. She's worried that you no longer care about her.

"That's not true," Bruce assured tightly.

Until then, Barry had been having trouble associating this man with this fearsome dark knight he knew so well, but now he could see how they could be the same man. "Bruce, what are you doing?"

The wealthy man's jaw tightened, clearly thinking about throwing the other man out of the house. Finally, he gave up and admitted his actions. "I have to distance myself, otherwise I'll want to interfere with her missions and she will get mad at me. I know it's difficult for you too, and Aquaman but it's different. She's my daughter, I worry about her on an average day, worse when she's on missions with me and now I'm not even there. I know Wally would die before letting her get hurt, but his young. So I have to pull away or I won't be able to help myself."

"What would you rather: her mad because you love her, or heartbroken because she thinks you don't?"

"What did the boy do to her? I know you know."

"From what I overheard and from what Wally said after he punched the kid square off his feet, which I'm actually quite proud about, he called Riley a charity case and that was reason you adopted her."

Bruce sighed before standing up. "Come on, I'll drive you home." He led the other hero down to the garage, ignoring the man's gasp of awe.

"Can I have your life?" he asked as he scanned the numerous expensive cars and bikes.

"Not a chance," Bruce retorted, smirking, surprising Barry by his casual behaviour. He unlocked the Ferrari, chuckling at the way his friend started drooling. They drove to Central City in relative silence but as they drew closer to Barry's house, Bruce finally spoke. "How do you do it? Not worry yourself sick about Wally?"

"Well," Barry started, "I know Riley has his back, that they work well together, but I do worry. I keep thinking that I should have trained him better when I had the chance. You were right, though, it's different for you. I could never imagine what I'd do if Wally was my son. I've looked after him for three days a week since he was a baby but it's not the same. Wally looks at me like I'm his idol, but Riley looks at you like you're a god and you _chose_ her to me your daughter. She knows she's adopted, she never forgets, but she knows that means you made a conscious decision for her to be your daughter. You don't need to distance yourself from her to assure she doesn't get angry at you, just be honest."

Bruce pulled up outside the Allen house, not bothering to put the car in park. "You're right. I'll talk to her." He smiled and looked at Barry, who was undoing his seatbelt. "Tell Wally I said thanks."

With a bark of laughter, the blond got out of the car. "Will do. See ya, Bruce."

_**I managed to get another chapter done. Although that was because I had most of it written from the moment I introduced Ashton. Told you it wasn't going to be clique where Wally gets jealous over Ashton, and I gave what many of you wanted, Ashton and Wally met... sort of. I do not have any of the next chapter written so it probably won't be up till after prac unless I get mass amounts of inspiration. Hope you enjoy and R and R.**_


End file.
